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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004547">Fallen Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaMelonWriter/pseuds/EmmaMelonWriter'>EmmaMelonWriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ghost Hunt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eventual Romance, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:01:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004547</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaMelonWriter/pseuds/EmmaMelonWriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mai and Yasu are on their way to Cambridge.<br/>No one knows they are coming except one person and how long will that last?<br/>Mai's powers have grown and so has her knowledge about ghost hunting in general.<br/>She loves the field and everything it has to offer.<br/>Is she going to survive London? Or Naru?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lin Koujo/Mori Madoka, Matsuzaki Ayako/Takigawa Houshou, Oliver Davis/Taniyama Mai, Shibuya Kazuya/Taniyama Mai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! I'm not really good with summaries as I don't know how to explain anything without giving it all away. I hope you like this work though!<br/>Thanks for reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Davis family was in the middle of eating breakfast, well most of them. His father was in the middle reading a file that he had of all the new students that were starting today. Which his was receiving a very scorching glare from his mother.</p><p> </p><p>Who suddenly slammed her fork down to finally address her husband. “Martin, we’ve talked about this countless times. I’ve been telling you this basically the whole summer. I understand that you’re excited, but please not at the table. It’s family time.”</p><p> </p><p>Martin blinked as he finally decided to tear his eyes away from the folder. It took him several minutes to process what his wife had just said. “Oh, I’m sorry dear.” He snapped the folder closed and smiled. “I’m just excited to start the new term. There are so many new students that are so willing to learn. I can’t wait for the debates.”</p><p> </p><p>The debates that were held in class were the main focal point of everything. Facts are everything in their field. Always needing to back everything up and have scientific understanding for everything. Testing and more testing to find all the facts and it was never enough. Something new almost always comes up. Things grow. The brain always needed more and more information to understand things.</p><p> </p><p>Oliver Davis finally decided to step into the conversation. “How many?”</p><p> </p><p>It was with all reason a really reasonable question. The amount of people who enthusiastically went to study parapsychology was very thin. Cambridge had one of the limited programs that offered it in such detail. Obviously there are people who only go in not taking anything seriously. Just curious or underestimating the whole thing in general, because of the line of work it goes under. They of course had to do something that would sort out everyone, so they could only let the best in the program. Everyone who wanted to even apply had to write out a thesis and basically had to apply scientific facts to whatever they decided on writing on.</p><p> </p><p>“Only ten.” Martin sighed out completely understanding the unspoken words his son was wanting to say. Ten was a lot less than the year before hand. Every year it seems the numbers were getting smaller and smaller. It was…frightening to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“How about the scholarships?” Another question from Oliver as he finished up only half his food. Which caused a frown from his mother as she noticed him leaning back and sipping on his water. Usually this meant he was done with his food and he was probably going to leave for work very shortly.</p><p> </p><p>“Two. Like normal. There is no reason for us to give out more than that.” Martin started eating his own food, because he really must get going soon. It was only 7am, but he really had to get to the collage and start getting ready.</p><p> </p><p>Luella couldn’t help but say something to her son about eating something just a little more. “Oli-.”</p><p> </p><p>“I should get going.” He set down his glass of water and stood up.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh. You’re going on a case today, right? Make sure to get me the report when you get back.” Martin didn’t worry as much as Luella about his eating habits. He was probably just more interested in the case then eating at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Grant, the butler to the Davis household, swooped in silently to gather Oliver’s dishes. He was there and gone in a matter of seconds. Which he handed all the dishes to one of the kitchen staff as he had to stay in the main room with the family.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, father.” He muttered as he was out of the dining hall in seconds to get his items to head to the SPR office.</p><p> </p><p>SPR or otherwise known Society for Psychical Research. Holding some of the most ground breaking equipment for any research they might need to do. Also, acting as a way to help anyone who might need it, like haunted buildings and helping people who needed it from powers.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em> <span class="u">Tokyo, Japan – One week earlier</span></em>
</p><p>“<em>Mai, we’re going to be late for our flight!</em>” Yasuhara, basically whined out as he was trying to drag the girl from the bear hug she was receiving at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Mai being unable to actually breathe was trying her best to get out of the hug. Like…she was squirming around being pretty desperate. She was sure security was watching them closely. Or she was imagining it because her vision was going blurry.</p><p> </p><p>All the sudden a shadow of a purse was moving in her line of vison and probably connecting straight to the head of the bear hugger. “<em>Takigawa, you’re hurting her! How much of an idiot do you have to be?</em>” Ayako yelled at her boyfriend.</p><p> </p><p>The man just rubbed the back of his head and grumbled. “<em>I’m just…going to miss her.</em>”</p><p> </p><p>Mai had bent down resting her hands on her knees and was just trying to breath. “<em>Yeah, don’t worry about me. Just in the middle of dying.</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Dying is gonna have to wait until you’re on the plane. We have to go like NOW.</em>” Yasu had grabbed her hand and both their carry-ons and basically rushed to the gates to hand over the tickets. They were getting weird looks from the attendants, but managed to get on the plane in time.</p><p> </p><p>Mai managed to get a wave to the monk and the priestess before getting dragged away. “<em>Yasu, that was so rude.</em>” She finally got her footing as they finally managed to step into the plane and find their seats.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu put the bigger bags up on top and flopped down in the seat. “<em>They literally just called the last boarding and he wasn’t letting go! We had no other choice.</em>” He moved to get one of his many books out of his bag.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>He couldn’t help but smile seeing the title. Mai had just finished reading it and basically threw it at him. Apparently there was a lot of different experiments in the book and she threw it at him saying to read and she wanted to try a lot of them. Which of course Mai does. Testing the limits of her powers was always interesting and enlightening. They loved every little bit of it to see what new thing she could tap into. He couldn’t help but think about the extra suitcase they had to use just to get all of their experiment research into it. Mostly just papers and data that’s on a bunch of USB sticks. Plus, their very expensive camera that they used to record everything.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but glance at Mai as she didn’t even talk back to him. She had curled herself up into her seat, which was a surprise cause she had the seat belt on. There was never any room in those things. Must have loosened it as much as she could to curl up. She already had a book open and had started on it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>By the same author as the book he had grabbed out of his own bag. Mai usually goes on a binge of one author at a time. She was curious about the collective works of each author and likes to analyze everything as a whole.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>About thirteen hours later – London, United Kingdom</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mai yawned as they stepped into the resting area in the airport. She stretched and managed to crack a few bones in the process. “<em>Finally! We’re here! I can’t wait to get settled into our apartment.</em>”</p><p> </p><p>They weren’t going to stay in a dorm, because they were both scared about getting trapped with someone that would bother them. Plus, testing. They needed their own area if they were going to talk about psychic powers and just class as a whole. This was just easier.</p><p> </p><p>“Mai! Yasu!”</p><p> </p><p>They both turned to see a magenta haired woman running towards them. Mai smiled as the woman rushed in to give them both a hug. “<em>Madoka! It’s been such a long time!</em>”</p><p> </p><p>And it really has. Almost five years has passed since they all left Japan suddenly. Mai and Yasu had graduated high school and attended college at Tokyo University. They came here to further their education and they really had no idea who to actually reach out to.</p><p> </p><p>Oliver and Lin were certainly out of the question. Mai wanted to give Oliver as much space as possible. They might be in the same area, but she didn’t want to put any sort of pressure on the man. Ever since the confession Mai had felt a range of emotions, but she came down to one thing.</p><p> </p><p>She loved Oliver. She knew that and it grew even more just reading all of his works. He cared about his research and just learning anything new in general. Which was one of the many things she loved about the man.</p><p> </p><p>Was she mad at first? Of course. Who wouldn’t be? She was mad at the man in question and herself. Mostly herself.</p><p> </p><p>She wondered how stupid she could actually be. There was obviously difference between the two, and she has come to know that very well through the years.</p><p> </p><p>Considering she still sees Gene.</p><p> </p><p>Which shouldn’t be a thing since they had found the body, but apparently he still has unfinished business. It was confusing since he wouldn’t just tell her what it was. Which has upset her more than times than not. He needed to move on already.</p><p> </p><p>Also, Lin was out of the question because he would blab. Obviously.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu blinked as he managed to get away from the hug and stared at the two girls. “Uh…? Madoka, I think you’re gonna cause Mai to stop breathing.” <em>Again. </em>He easily switched over to English as they were already in the United Kingdom and they should probably get used to speaking English more. Not like they weren’t already. They basically purchased all their books in English anyways and talked in English a lot just to get used to it. It was so normal at this point.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! I’m so sorry!” She pushed back from Mai and the girl went back to leaning down to just catch her breath. “How was the flight? I can’t believe you guys made it to London! We obviously have to go sightseeing! There is so much to go and see. You’ll have to go to big ben like the first day.” The woman was all smiles as she ignored Mai dying from not being able to actually breathe.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu ignored it too as he pushed up his glasses. “Our flight was great.” He flashed the woman a smile as he leaned against Mai to relax. His elbow was right on her back, because she was leaning down, and put most of his weight into it. “Does Oliver and Lin know about us being here?”</p><p> </p><p>Mai gave a glare to the other male and basically pulled away almost causing the other to fall over. Madoka just smiled watching them.</p><p> </p><p>This was…nice. She missed the whole group, but eventually she was sure they would all pop up. They were to closely knit together.</p><p> </p><p>“Nope. You picked a great week. They are at fund raiser for SPR and are basically stuck there until tomorrow.” They decided it would be good to move where the suitcase retrieval area was. They had a total of five they needed to retrieve. Especially since one has very important paperwork.</p><p> </p><p>Mai let out a small laugh and smiled. “Trapped. That’s probably the best word to describe how they feel right now. Naru, really doesn’t like a lot of people. He would rather be in his office.”</p><p> </p><p>Madoka blinked a little caught off guard before laughing herself. “I suppose that’s probably true.”</p><p> </p><p><em>‘Good.’ </em>Madoka smiled looking at the two. <em>Oliver doesn’t seem like a bad subject to talk about. ‘I figured with everything that happened that it would be a sore subject.’</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>“He’s probably in a corner all miserable banging his head against a wall trying to create some sort of hole to crawl out of.” Yasu decided to describe the best scenario for what was probably happening.</p><p> </p><p>Both women just blinked and stared at the man before laughing.</p><p> </p><p>Because it probably would be true. They could both see it in their heads.</p><p> </p><p>“Mai! Our suitcases are coming!” Yasu yelled dramatically as he pointed to the line that was coming out next.</p><p> </p><p>Mai blinked as she managed to look over from still laughing. “Quick. Let’s go.” They both dramatically ran over to grab all five of them.</p><p> </p><p>They were heavy.</p><p> </p><p>Very heavy.</p><p> </p><p>Mai groaned as she leaned against the one that had all their research. “My lungs aren’t working properly to deal with this.”</p><p> </p><p>“You should work out more.” Yasu stated as he leaned proudly onto the one that held most of his clothes. He was also breathing very heavy, but was trying to pretend that it wasn’t happening.</p><p> </p><p>“If anyone needs to work out it’s you…” Mai mumbled as she finally decided to lean up and let out a breath to relax. She decided to close her eyes and relax for a moment. She reached out sensing all the different auras around her and trying to memorize Madoka’s for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>There was a lot of orange mostly. A little green, but it was mostly orange.</p><p> </p><p>Mai couldn’t help but smile as she opened her eyes to look at the woman. It really fit her.</p><p> </p><p>Madoka blinked as she noticed Mai staring at her and smiled. “I know you didn’t want me to tell the boys, but they could have suffered and grabbed the suitcases for us.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai would have laughed and shook her head. “I think Naru would rather parish.” She grabbed two of the handles and was ready to get out of this airport. “Now, I’m ready to head out and get out of this place.”</p><p> </p><p>Madoka went to grab the only suitcase that wasn’t being taken. “I can’t wait until you see your apartment. The photos I sent really don’t do it justice.”</p><p> </p><p>It took about an hour until they were walking into the apartment room that they would be staying and Mai was speechless. There was a huge window that looked out into the city. The whole place was open concept which was great in of itself. The kitchen was on the left side of the room and had a little island where chairs sat waiting. It was a good size for just the two of them too. There was a couch and a small table in where the living room started from the kitchen. They also had a TV, but Mai was focused mostly on the huge bookcase that was basically all along the wall. It seemed to basically fit in the wall and had enough room that you could basically fit a TV right in the center.</p><p> </p><p>“This wasn’t in the photos!” Mai squealed as she looked let the image of all the books she could fit in this huge thing through the years. She was probably gonna buy a bookcase for her room anyways. The amount of books were probably going to pile up fast.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I asked her to keep it a surprise.” Yasu had to basically push the rest of the suitcases in cause Mai got distracted yet again.</p><p> </p><p>Madoka was surprise about the reaction that it took her a moment to let the scene sink in. Then again they were going to Cambridge under a scholarship. She really shouldn’t be surprise about how things have changed. It’s been five years. “I’m glad you like it! If you guys need anything more in here let me know!”</p><p> </p><p>Mai still had a huge smile on her face as she faced the woman. “Thank you so much for all of this. You’ve been such a big help.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m just glad you reached out to me, also that I didn’t have to find out during my lecture. I think I would have been so hurt and would yell at you.” She kept her smile on her face but it became a little darker. “Speaking of which…When Lin and Noll find out that you’re at Cambridge and failed to tell them they’re going to be upset.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai just waved her off as she grabbed one of the suitcases that had more books and school stuff they brought along. They were still going to go shopping for more stuff, but this was just things that were on sale. “They wouldn’t understand how and just be completely dumbfound why we are here. Especially if they see us outside of Cambridge.” Mai picked up a couple of the books that they had brought and started piling them on the shelves.</p><p> </p><p>“Mai.” Madoka said sternly as she stared at the young woman. “Every month there is a fundraiser at the college for Parapsychology, so the students have the opportunity to make their contacts wider.”</p><p> </p><p>“And to raise money for the program because of how much equipment that it uses.” Mai gave her a smile completely relaxed by the fact there will be a fundraiser. “Naru will be there since his father basically owns Cambridge and that program.”</p><p> </p><p>Madoka blinked completely confused. “And…you don’t have a problem meeting with Noll?”</p><p> </p><p>Yasu had basically ran off at some point to look at the rest of the apartment. There were two rooms and one of them had a connected bathroom. Mai’s room. He quickly decided in his head as he moved along to the other room. Each one was a decent size, which was good because they were going to end up having a lot of stuff from testing and college. There were already beds and dressers in the room, so he could start unpacking.</p><p> </p><p>“Madoka.” Mai turned to her completely serious. “I’m terrified of seeing him.” She relaxed a little and decided to just go and sit on the couch. “You guys just left after one bombshell after another and I really had no idea what to do for a while. Or how to feel.” She couldn’t help but remember her confession. “There was so much left unsaid in the end and I don’t know if I can actually face him in the long run. I don’t hate him or anything…I don’t think I could ever…” She mumbled the last part as he looked towards her lap.</p><p> </p><p>Madoka came up beside her and hugged her gently. “I’m sorry for everything. I can’t even begin to understand what you had went through. What all of you guys must have went through.”</p><p> </p><p>“None of us are mad at Naru though. We completely understand why he had to do it. We were upset at the start, but we could never be mad.” Mai leaned into the woman finding comfort from the other. “I just don’t want to turn his life upside down from him finding out we’re here. He might have some sort of guilt from the whole thing internally and might not know what to do seeing us.”</p><p> </p><p><em>‘She cares so much for Noll. I wonder…’ </em>Madoka squeezed the young woman closer and just cuddled with her for several minutes. She wasn’t really sure what to say. There was only one way to really do anything and that was for them to meet with the man. Lin was going to be so upset with her for not telling him. She couldn’t help but sigh.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! I hope everyone liked the first chapter. I honestly couldn't help myself from writing even more! <br/>I just figured this was a good stopping point and I'll probably start writing Chapter 3 right away.<br/>Hope you enjoy yourselves reading!<br/>Not much happened in this chapter though-</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today was finally the first day of classes…and Mai was extremely nervous. There were so many different thoughts going through her head.</p><p> </p><p>What if no one liked her?</p><p> </p><p>What if she forgot everything she has worked so long on learning?</p><p> </p><p>What if no one understood her English?</p><p> </p><p>What if she forgot supplies for the class?</p><p> </p><p>What if she had no idea what anyone was talking about?</p><p> </p><p>What if she failed on the debates?</p><p> </p><p>What if she messed up her wording and everyone thought she was an idiot.</p><p> </p><p>She could feel herself panicking and she needed to calm down. Did she even know how to calm down right now? She had no idea what to do when the door to the classroom came into view. Maybe she couldn’t do this?</p><p> </p><p>“Mai…”</p><p> </p><p>Maybe she should have stayed in Japan and far away from London?</p><p> </p><p>“Mai.”</p><p> </p><p>Nope. She can’t do this. She felt her body already turning ready to just run the other way.</p><p> </p><p>“Mai!” Yasu yelled a little louder as he grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t do this! I’m going back to Japan.” Mai struggled a little against Yasu. Even though she could probably easily break away from the other.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu sighed deeply and pulled her closer and moved to rest his hands on Mai’s shoulders. “Mai. I completely understand what you feel.” <em>Sort of. </em>“You’ve worked way too hard to back down now. Whatever you’re thinking you don’t have to worry. You don’t even have to talk the first part of this lecture. Just take your time and relax. You can even read the textbook we got yesterday. I know reading calms you down enough.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai blinked several times as she looked at the other and took in his words. Was she still nervous? Of course, but… “I think I just need to sit down and relax.” Maybe even do a little meditating while she sat there.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu just laughed and nodded before pulling away. “That’s a great idea. You’ll calm down in no time.” He moved to pat her head before heading into the room.</p><p> </p><p>The room was like any normal college room. The room was split between three different areas of desks. Then the front of the room there was a huge white board with a bunch of different things written on it. It looked mostly like a schedule. The handwriting was a little all over the place honestly. Then there was a huge desk off to the side of the room by one of the huge windows. There were a bunch of papers scattered everywhere and one man was standing there trying to sort through everything.</p><p> </p><p>Martin Davis.</p><p> </p><p>Obviously. Mai couldn’t help but stare at the man. This was Naru’s father. She saw him for only a couple seconds in Japan, but now they were actually going to learn from this man. He didn’t even have any idea who she was and she was happy about that. She really didn’t want Naru panicking because she was around. Well, she wasn’t sure about panicking. Maybe…unhappy?</p><p> </p><p>She finally tore her eyes away from the older man and decided to look at the other people in their class. There weren’t that many, but they all seemed to be chatting in small groups. They probably all came in from groups. Just like Yasu and herself. It makes sense really. She also could be wrong and they just split up to get to know each other.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu suddenly decided to move and go up the stairs. Most of the students were in the front, but they were going to the middle away from them all. For the most part anyways. Mai followed the other without question as she held onto her bag that was hanging on her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>They were being stared at. She wasn’t sure how to focus with everyone just staring. There were whispers too. This was not helping her nerves at all.</p><p> </p><p>When they finally found a seat that they liked Mai was quick to sit. She pulled out any one of her random books just to read and calm down.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Supernormal: Science, Yoga, and the Evidence for the Extraordinary Psychic Abilities.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>This was the next in the lineup of the author that she had decided to read from. It didn’t look like the man had a lot of books right now, but that never stopped her from reading. It wasn’t something she really needed to read during class, but the text book that she actually needed to read she has read already.</p><p> </p><p>More than a dozen times.</p><p> </p><p>It was just an introduction to Parapsychology.</p><p> </p><p>By Oliver Davis.</p><p> </p><p>It was one of his older works, but it was still amazing of course. Also, of course his father would add this to one of his classes. He was probably extremely proud of his soon and wanted to show case his work for everyone to see.</p><p> </p><p>She was only a couple of pages into her book before someone had suddenly moved in front of her and grabbed her book to look at it.</p><p> </p><p>She was shocked to say the least as she looked up to come face to face with one of the other students. He had short/spiky very red hair. His eyes were also very blue and reminded her of the sky for a moment. He also was wearing this huge grin on his face as he looked at the title of the book.</p><p> </p><p>Mai just wanted her book around and Yasu was just also sitting beside her a little shock at what just happened. He didn’t even see this guy come up, because he was so focused on getting his own stuff out.</p><p> </p><p>“Woah. Class has barely started and you’re digging your noise into a book.” The guy was still all smiles as he read over the page she was reading. “Hey, this is actually interesting!” He was surprised and moved the book to actually read a little more.</p><p> </p><p>Mai was furious as she shot up and grabbed her book back glaring at the boy. “I would appreciate that you didn’t touch my stuff.” She held her book close to her chest and turned away. Her glare never leaving the other.</p><p> </p><p>He blinked a little shocked himself before raising his hands backing down. “Sorry! I should really introduce myself.” He laughed freely for a second before suddenly stopping. “I’m…” He tried to be as dramatic as he could and even backed up to stand on a desk doing some weird pose. “Liam Floyd.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai…just didn’t know how to react. She was completely stumped. She blinked several times as she stared at the boy who was in the weirdest pose on the desk in front of her. “I’m sorry…please don’t be offended by this…but are you stupid?”</p><p> </p><p>There was a huge crash sound as the man in question lost his balance and fell on the other side of the desk. Yasu couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore and just broke down. He also fell over in the process onto the floor. Even some of the other students couldn’t help but laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry about him.” Another voice joined the little group. A girl who had very long dirty blonde hair and green eyes. “We’re pretty sure there is a screw loose in his head. Oh. I’m Trista Baxter.” She held out her hand for Mai to take.</p><p> </p><p>Which Mai couldn’t help but glance at where the other fell down. She decided she had a free moment and her book was safe so she reached out to take Trista’s hand and smiled widely. “I’m Mai Taniyama. It’s great to meet you.”</p><p> </p><p>Trista smiled even more as she basically got on the desk in front of Mai. Which also shocked her a great deal. “You guys are the students from Japan, right? You guys are the one who got the scholarships, right? I heard the paper both of you guys did was something along the lines of aura healing, right? I’m not really well known for this line of study. We heard a little about it.” Trista was getting a lot closer to Mai and she wouldn’t let go. Basically scooting across the desk and Mai had no idea what to do. She would rather deal with the other guy right now. “Have you tested most of your theories? You probably have, right? Does that mean one of you guys are psychic in some way? Or do you have a test subject you use? I would love to test my own findings on your subject.”</p><p> </p><p>All of the sudden Trista was being pulled back by a hand that attached to her head. It was a very upset and bleeding Liam who had basically pulled her off the desk. “Trista! You’re scaring her! I told you not to go overboard with your questions when you saw them.” He glanced at Mai and gave her a very apologetic smile. “I’m sorry…we just are really curious since you guys have come from so far.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai couldn’t help but smile warmly and moved to hand her book over to Liam. “We wouldn’t be in this program if we didn’t always ask questions. Right?”</p><p> </p><p>Yasu had somewhere between everything managed to crawl back in his seat and find his bearings. He couldn’t help but smile at the interaction. Mai was really nervous for nothing.</p><p> </p><p>Liam couldn’t help but smile even more at Mai and made a move to grab the book, but timing was not on their side at all.</p><p> </p><p>“I found it!” Martin had suddenly yelled from the front of the class. He held up a stack of papers feeling completely thrilled with himself at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Which made all four of them jump at the sudden boom of voice in the room. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before all suddenly laughing. Which made Martin completely confused as he looked out to his students.</p><p> </p><p>The morning lectures had passed pretty fast. It was mostly introducing what they were going to be up to for the remainder of the semester. Not to mention Martin had lists upon list of books he wanted to recommend. Which, Trista seemed to be very much into at this very moment.</p><p> </p><p>The two had moved to the front seats that were in front of them before class officially started. It was a lot calmer than the start and Mai was happy to have made two new friends so fast.</p><p> </p><p>They were on their way to the cafeteria right now to get some food. Mai was starving and was ready to put some food in her stomach. Liam was basically following right behind Trista while reading the book that Mai had given him earlier. Yasu was beside him explaining certain points that he didn’t seem to fully comprehend. Apparently, Liam was more of an action guy then having his nose buried in a book. Mai couldn’t really blame him. She used to never understand anything unless it was explained by Yasu. Now of course that was completely different.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! The cafeteria here is insane. There is so much to pick from and just…amazing. They have cake too and I’m honestly weak.” Trista was talking about the college in general, but you could tell the need for food was getting to her. “I wonder if they have triple chocolate chip…” She could already feel her mouthwatering.</p><p> </p><p> Mai laughed and shook her head. “I’m also very curious what they have. We live in an apartment off of college grounds, so this officially our first day that doesn’t involve touring.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Are you two a couple? You seem pretty close.” Trista scooted closer to whisper so she couldn’t catch the boys’ attention. They seemed to be talking about something super interesting anyways.</p><p> </p><p>Mai blinked before laughing super hard. “No way! We’re just friends. Besides…” She mumbled as she leaned in. “I’m pretty sure he has no interest in girls.”</p><p> </p><p>Trista blinked and leaned back to look at Yasu and back at Mai. She smiled and hooked their arms together. “That’s so cute. Love is so cute.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai hummed as she glanced at the other before smirking. “How about Liam?”</p><p> </p><p>Trista all but stopped in her tracks causing the boy in general to run into her. Which she paid no mind to and was extremely red shaking her head back and forth a lot. Mai was sure anymore force would cause it to just detach.</p><p> </p><p><em>‘That’s not how heads work…</em>’ Mai couldn’t help but laugh a little at herself. No matter how stupid it was.</p><p> </p><p>“No way! No way! He’s…He’s an idiot!” Trista was still completely red as she panicked. Liam just blinked staring down at her while also glancing at Mai. He was completely lost on what was happening.</p><p> </p><p>Mai was just smiling as she watched Trista’s reaction. This brought back a lot of memories from when Naru was still around in Japan. She brought her finger up to her lips and gave a smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell.” Then she basically skipped down the hall heading to where the smell of food was coming from.</p><p> </p><p>Trista was shocked at Mai’s reaction before running after her. “Wait! It’s not what you think!”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Liam blinked as he stared at the two girls retreating figures.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu came up behind him and just pat his shoulder. It really wasn’t hard to figure what was happening. Liam seemed to not be able to multitask though. “Don’t worry. It might hurt your brain." Then he took off after the others having a huge smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“What.” Liam took way longer than he should have to get himself caught up and basically sprinting to catch up to the others.</p><p> </p><p>They finally managed to sit down at a table with their lunch. Mai had decided to get creamy broccoli salad and a smashed chickpea sandwich. Yasu had just gotten the fish and chips. Then there was this substance…on a small plate that was basically shoved into his hands by Liam. Haggis. Apparently, is what Liam called it and he wasn’t really sure how to feel about it.</p><p> </p><p>Mai had looked up some of the food of the country and knew exactly what it was. Was she going to tell the other? Nope. She wouldn’t even go near it herself.</p><p> </p><p>Trista had gotten a coronation chicken sandwich with a very huge slice of chocolate cake. Apparently, they didn’t have the right cake and she was quite upset. Liam had gotten a full plate of Haggis. It was one of his favorite dishes he had mention several times. He also got a strawberry cream cake.</p><p> </p><p>It looked amazing to Mai, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to finish it with all the food she had out in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu had poked the haggis that was on the small plate before flinching. “I think it moved.”</p><p> </p><p>Liam rolled his eyes and grabbed his spoon and got a good amount before shoving it into his mouth. “Just try it. You’ll love it.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai just tried to ignore it all and focused on starting her salad and not try to think about what Yasu is about to do. “Trista, you need to distract me.” She mumbled so she didn’t alert the other.</p><p> </p><p>Said girl just blinked while having a mouth full of her sandwich. “What?” Some of the food fell out of her mouth and Mai just pulled away.</p><p> </p><p>She didn’t think she could stomach watching Yasu eat that stuff. It might be good, but just knowing what’s in there…</p><p> </p><p>She shivered as she moved to grab her book that Liam had put down and tried to focus on it.</p><p> </p><p>Yasu decided to suck it up and put a little on his spoon and shoved it into his mouth as fast as he could.</p><p> </p><p>The result?</p><p> </p><p>Not as terrible as he thought it was going to be. He blinked down and couldn’t help but take another bite. “Hey! This stuff isn’t that bad at all. What’s it made of?”</p><p> </p><p>Mai just buried her face into her book and stuff a fork full of her salad trying to zone everyone out for a moment. She didn’t want to hear it out loud.</p><p> </p><p>Liam just smiled widely at the other acting completely innocent. “If I told you, you would probably kill yourself and haunt me. I’m too lazy to try and figure out how to get rid of your spirit.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing and almost falling off her chair. She decided to close her book as she continued to laugh and set it down. Deciding it was safe enough.</p><p> </p><p>Trista was just ignoring what was happening as she decided to save the rest of her sandwich and eat her cake. Cake was way more important than the conversation that was going on.</p><p> </p><p>The rest of the lunch time was basically silent as everyone scarfed down their food. By the time they were done each one was full and relaxing in a casual talk. Liam had stolen the book back to get a little more reading into it.</p><p> </p><p>Trista had stretched her arms before getting comfortable leaning on the table. “So, you guys going to the first fundraiser? It’s not mandatory, but it’s probably good to at least go so it doesn’t look…”</p><p> </p><p>“Flaky.” Liam finished setting the book back down. “Most of our class aren’t going though. Most of them don’t understand the benefits of going. It might be a fundraiser but it’s also a chance for us to present in front of everyone. The people who go want to know what our research is about and what we’re interested in with the field.”</p><p> </p><p>Mai smiled tilting her head in confusion. “Of course we are going. Anyone who doesn’t don’t understand what field they are going into. Plus, we’re scholarship students…it probably would look extremely bad if we don’t show up.”</p><p> </p><p>Trisha suddenly slammed her hands down causing the three to jump. Trisha was grinning and looked towards Mai. “We should go shopping. Buy a few dresses for the events to come. It’ll be a girl’s day!” She squealed clearly excited.</p><p> </p><p>Mai blinked taking all the new information in. She grinned and nodded. “Can I add one more person to our girl’s day?” She wasn’t actually expecting to buy anything. Maybe, if there was something really cheap. She liked the idea of going out and exploring London even more.</p><p> </p><p>“Am I the plus one?” A voice sudden came from behind them.</p><p> </p><p>Mai just grinned hearing the familiar voice and turned to her. “Madoka!” She got up and went over to hug the woman. “Today has been going great!”</p><p> </p><p>Trisha and Liam were both pretty shocked at the new comer. Well…their professor.</p><p> </p><p>Madoka smiled at the two. “We haven’t fully gotten to meet, right? I’m Madoka Mori. I’ll be able to introduce myself even more once class starts up.”</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone!<br/>Thanks for reading.<br/>Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
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      <p>It was finally Saturday and the week had been a very long and interesting one. Classes were going a lot better than she ever imagined. Debates are probably one of the best things she loves. Liam and she had gotten into a huge argument in one of the subjects. Martin completely loved it and enjoyed every bit of it. There, of course, were no hard feelings at the end of it. Both of the shared a laugh as Mai basically completely destroyed him at the very end.</p>
      <p>Mai and Yasu very much enjoyed their new friends. They were interesting and very fun to hang around with. Not to mention studying with. When the end of the day arrives they all stayed after to work on the homework. It was exciting to hear from everyone's point of view. Very enlightening.</p>
      <p>Today was the girl's day and they finally had sat down for some food. Trista and Madoka had lots of bags and Mai…she had a couple. Mostly because Madoka insisted that she bought a couple dresses for her. Something about wanting to make up for lost time or something. Mai had insisted that she could buy her own items, but Madoka wasn't moving her foot. It was a lost cause for her to argue anymore.</p>
      <p>Anyways, for lunch they decided to go to this Italian restaurant. Madoka was very hungry for some sort of pasta. Which she actually ended up getting shrimp fettuccine alfredo. Mai saw the photo they had on the menu and her mouth was watering. It looked really good! Even though most of the time the menu photos looked way better than the dish.</p>
      <p>Trista had decided to get carbonara pasta. Seems to be a theme for the girl. She must really like carbonara items. There was no picture though with the dish and Mai was a little bit upset.</p>
      <p>Mai…well she had no idea what she should actually should get. She never really ate anything pasta and didn't really know what she would like. She stared and stared at the menu but nothing jumped out to her.</p>
      <p>She squinted at one that caught her attention, but not in the 'I want to eat this' way. "What is green spaghetti? Is it like that book Green Eggs and Ham?"</p>
      <p>Madoka blinked a little surprise that she would even know of that book. Interesting. "It has a little bit of a kick to it. There are some peppers in it, but I can't really do anything that has even a little spice."</p>
      <p>Mai's face twisted and shook her head. "Ugh. Nothing is really hitting me on what I want. This is so hard." She whined as she hit her head with the menu. "Help."</p>
      <p>Trista hummed as she looked through the menu. "I'm not sure if you like fish or not…" She mumbled as she thought back to all the lunches they had together. She never saw Mai eat anything that was fish. "Anyways, why not try smoked salmon pasta?"</p>
      <p>Mai blinked as she looked down at the menu to try to find the said dish. "I don't see that anywhere."</p>
      <p>"Next page." Trista leaned over and flipped the page to the next showing a little more dishes.</p>
      <p>"Oh." Mai blinked as she glanced down at the list and quickly found the said dish. "Have you guys tried it?"</p>
      <p>"I love fish, so I of course had to try it. If you like salmon I think you'll like the dish." Madoka moved to take a sip of the water she had ordered. Trista was the one who recommended it, so of course she has tried the dish.</p>
      <p>"Alright. I'll try it!" Mai smiled as she shut her menu. They all went through the process with ordering and getting settled down. They were all chatting about how classes were coming along.</p>
      <p>In the middle of Madoka's sentence though her phone started going off. Which she decided to take it out just to see who was calling. Her face paled a little as she saw Lin's name. "Oh my gosh. Mai, what do I do?" She showed off her phone so she could see the name.</p>
      <p>Mai's eyes widen seeing the name and looked back at the panicking woman. "Answer him! It's going to be suspicious if you don't!"</p>
      <p>"I don't think I can lie to him! We're dating! He's going to know something is up!"</p>
      <p>"He's going to know something is up if you don't answer the phone!" Mai didn't process the fact that they were dating. She was way too panicked about the fact that Lin was even calling.</p>
      <p>The call had cut out at that point and both girls were looking at the phone scared for their lives. It was only a second later as another call came through from Lin, again.</p>
      <p>"Madoka." Mai said as sternly as she could and giving the woman the most straight face she could handle. "Answer. The. Phone."</p>
      <p>Madoka tapped on the green button to receive the call and brought it up to her face. "Hello, my honey bunch."</p>
      <p>There was a very long silence on the other end. "What."</p>
      <p>Of course Mai finally processed on how Madoka answered the phone, and the fact that she said that she was dating the man. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE DATING LIN!" She screeched completely caught off guard. Of course she realized she had said that very loudly and the man in question probably heard her. She immediately slapped both of her hands over her mouth and was completely wide eyed.</p>
      <p>The woman was equally shocked at the sudden screech from the girl who was supposed to be silent!</p>
      <p>Lin of course was very suspicious the moment he heard the voice. "Who was that?" Everyone they knew, knew they were dating. It wasn't really a secret, but he couldn't figure out why this voice sounded so familiar. The tone of the voice is what hit him with a familiar note of nostalgia</p>
      <p>"Uhhhh…" Madoka had literally no idea what to say at the moment. They were caught. A lot sooner than she had planned. She thought for sure they had at least until the fundraiser until the jig was up. This…was not in the plan. "My new boyfriend."</p>
      <p>Mai gave the woman the most 'are you an idiot' look she could muster up at the moment. Trista had moved to yank on Mai's sleeve to get her attention. "Who is Lin?"</p>
      <p>"I used to work with him when I was in Japan." Mai turned to whisper to the other. "My old…boss and he had come back to London about five years ago or so." Trista nodded and decided to just sip her water since she really had no idea what was going on.</p>
      <p>"What's actually going on? One, you wouldn't date anyone else but me. Two, that was definitely a woman's voice. What's going on?"</p>
      <p>Madoka slumped in her seat and looked at the girl in question. "We're not fooling him. What do I do?"</p>
      <p>"You aren't." Lin stated as much.</p>
      <p>Mai sighed deeply trying to think of something to try and get out of it. "Do you think he would believe you if you just told him?" She whispered trying not to let her voice carry so Lin couldn't hear her.</p>
      <p>She hummed thinking for a moment. The truth could be so insane that Lin wouldn't believe her and would drop it. She was willing to try it! If anything he just finds out and Naru might find out because someone (Lin) obviously blabbed. "Fine. It's Mai. Remember? Mai Taniyama from Japan? We went shopping for clothes and now we are sitting waiting for our food."</p>
      <p>"I obvious remember her." He just didn't remember her speaking in English. Lin glared at the wall that was in front of him. They literally just got back from a headache of a case and he was sitting in his own little office. Naru had went to his own office right away, since he wanted to get through the paperwork as fast as possible. He went silent for a couple minutes just thinking about the response he got from his girlfriend.</p>
      <p>Did he believe her? Honestly, he wasn't fully convinced. What would Mai be doing in London of all places? It made no sense, but putting the girl and that voice together...</p>
      <p>"Where are you eating?"</p>
      <p>Madoka blinked looking at her phone then back at Mai. "I think he might come here." She leaned close to whisper in Mai's ear. They were screwed. There was no way out of this.</p>
      <p>Mai knew this also as she let out a sigh. She managed to nod and was just completely defeated. All because she was so loud. In reality it's all Madoka's fault! She shouldn't have said that Lin and she were dating! They wouldn't be in this mess then!</p>
      <p>Madoka let out her own sigh and finally told him where she was. Just completely defeated about everything that just happened.</p>
      <p>Of course, this was when the food finally arrived. The two girls looked completely defeated and Trista…well she dug right in. Not bothering with what was happening. The other two decided to slowly start to eat. It was extremely good and the wait staff were very confused about what was actually happening. The two were clearly enjoying the food, but the faces they were making were weird. Just a mix of wanting to cry and just they really don't know. So, they decided only to check on them to ask about the food and refill their water.</p>
      <p>By the time they finally finished and paid for everything Madoka had looked out the window and saw Lin's car. The man was leaning on the vehicle waiting. Madoka leaned over to tap Mai's shoulder and pointed to Lin. "Look."</p>
      <p>Mai's eyes followed where she was pointing and saw him. "Wow…he really hasn't changed much from the last time I saw him. Obviously, he looks a little older but he really didn't change."</p>
      <p>Trista had managed to dig her phone out as all of them stood up to get ready to leave. She cringed to see the amount of calls and messages from Liam. "I think I'm gonna have to go. I was expecting him to calm down from this morning, but nope."</p>
      <p>Mai blinked looked at the other girl before smirking. "Oh? Liam must really need you right now." She scooted up and managed to grab her phone to look. "My gosh! He's gone insane. He must really need you."</p>
      <p>"Please don't word it like that…" Trista mumbled as she grabbed her phone back. "It's probably because he's stuck on some assignment and can't figure it out."</p>
      <p>"Yeah, but he could have called Yasu at any point. I thought they decided to hang out today?" Mai grabbed her own bags as the others did and started walking out.</p>
      <p>"I'll text you to let you know what is actually happening. Between the two I really don't want to know what is happening." When they got outside the restaurant Madoka and Mai both gave Trista a goodbye hug. She managed to get a taxi easily and went to head back to the doors.</p>
      <p>Which was probably a really great thing since she could feel eyes staring at her. This was going to be a long conversation. She turned to look at said man that was walking towards her. "Hey…Lin?" She was shocked when she was being pulled into a tight hug from the said man.</p>
      <p>When the group of girls had come out of the restaurant he had noticed his girlfriend right away. The next was the one that he had no idea who she was. It was the third one that caught his eyes. Mai. It was definitely Mai. She had grown in these last five years, and her hair was just past her shoulders now. It was her though. A bunch of questions swirled around in his head as he pushed off the car and headed for the group. Without giving it much thought he pulled her into a very tight hug. Which, yes, shocked himself too.</p>
      <p>It wasn't hard to figure that he would miss the girl. It really wasn't the same without her around. Basically keeping both Naru and himself in check most of the time. When she wasn't getting in trouble with the spirits they were hunting or just in her being clumsy.</p>
      <p>Then a thought suddenly stuck him as he remembered the phone call. He suddenly pulled back and held Mai's shoulders as he stared down in shock. "You know English." It really wasn't a question more of confirming something in his own head. Mai was also speaking without an accent, which means she probably practiced and practiced for years. It was amazing.</p>
      <p>When Lin had hugged Mai she was very much shocked, but decided to enjoy the hug. She had missed him a lot. Even with how his attitude was at the start. Lin must have felt the same way too. All too suddenly he had pulled away stating probably the most obvious thing right now. "Yes…?"</p>
      <p>"Wait." Lin let everything process about what was happening. They were in London and Mai was supposed to be in Japan. Probably at a job or something. "Why are you here? What about Japan? Does Noll know you are here?" Then another thing jumped in his head as he turned to face Madoka. "Of course he doesn't. Then I would know. What is going on? Why didn't you tell me she was here?"</p>
      <p>Mai could tell this was going to be a long conversation and really didn't want to do this in the middle of the sidewalk. "How about we go sit at a café? That way we can relax and talk?" The couple had agreed and eight minutes later they were sitting at a table waiting for their drinks.</p>
      <p>"So, what are you doing in London?" Lin had finally decided it was okay to ask again. He was extremely curious, because there was no way Mai would have come to London just to shop with Madoka.</p>
      <p>"I'm going to Cambridge." She gave him a smile trying to calm her own nerves. "I'm studying Parapsychology."</p>
      <p>As she said what she was going for Lin couldn't help his eyes going wide learning this. "What?" Did this mean she never left the field when they had left Japan? Did she go with the others on cases to learn more? You obviously needed more than just that to actually take Parapsychology though.</p>
      <p>She let out a nervous laugh at his reaction. "Yup. Surprise. Just to point out I really did try to move on from ghost hunting and what not. I couldn't find anything else that interested me enough though and some other stuff happened…"</p>
      <p>"What do you mean other stuff?"</p>
      <p>Mai hummed thinking about what she should actually tell the older man. A lot of stuff happened in the first year of them being away. Madoka had cut in her thoughts though. "Mai, you should just tell him everything. He's already upset with me enough." It was true. He wasn't talking to her at all since they got in his car and since they got to the café. He did pay for all their drinks though.</p>
      <p>It was at this moments their drinks arrived and Mai wasted no time in sipping her green tea. So, relaxing. "Fair enough. Alright, the first year you guys had left my powers suddenly got…a little out of hand. My retrocognition was the first that got out of hand. It basically linked up with any spirit that I had contact with. I spent a lot of time 'sleeping' most days because of this. I had about enough of it and basically locked myself away. Also, around this time I kept astral projecting without actually meaning to. My body was exhausted honestly. Doing both so often was just a lot and I could hardly sleep. Bou-san decided it was a good idea to go to the monks that had taught him. That…was interesting in its own right. Anyways, I spent that summer with them and when I finally graduated from high school I spend several more months with them."</p>
      <p>Lin wanted to ask why she didn't call them and explain what was happening to her. He already knew the answer though. There was no reason for him to ask. He couldn't help but frown though. Her powers had apparently grown and they were so far away and couldn't do anything to help her out. They basically dragged her into a whole new world and probably were one of the many reasons she had even started experiencing these powers. Yet, they just ended up leaving her in the end. What would have happened if the others hadn't been around to support her?</p>
      <p>"Anyways, when I was there I started to develop aura sensing and that was a lot more trouble. There were so many colors all the time and it took forever to be able to see properly. It was a lot more intense than they were used to and it took a couple years actually to calm it down enough for me to have full control over. A lot of the time when someone can sense aura they usually have to train themselves, but mine just came out of nowhere. Even if you have the ability to naturally sense them it's something very mild, so they couldn't fully explain why mine was so intense." Mai just shrugged as she took another sip from her tea. At the beginning she had freaked out about the whole thing, but now she was completely calm. She had accepted her powers after a while and really it was perfect for her. She wanted to help the spirits pass on properly. Sometimes, that isn't obviously the case. She tried her best though for them.</p>
      <p>"Wait. You can sense aura's now? That's a new one."</p>
      <p>"Yeah, but honestly I kind of like it. It's like…it connects me to something that just has this warm feeling to it. It's hard to explain though." <em>Plus it wasn't always warm.</em> She couldn't help but close her eyes for a moment while she sipped her tea. Mai calmed herself enough to reach for the auras around her and then focusing on Lin.</p>
      <p>Violet…and a mix between actual blue and indigo. Which was very interesting and she couldn't help a smile taking up her face.</p>
      <p>"Your aura is very…not what I was expecting. Yet, it explains you perfectly."</p>
      <p>Lin blinked a little surprise at the information. He wasn't expecting her to suddenly read him. "So, besides your powers, why did you come to Cambridge? Was there any other reason besides your powers? Does Martin know who you are in relations to Noll?"</p>
      <p>"Obviously to study Parapsychology. There is so much to learn all the time, and this program is perfect for that. Also, Martin has no idea who I am. I don't want to think how he'll react when he eventually finds out…" Apparently, Yasu and she were one of his favorite students. That's what he said when they decided to stay after class to ask him a couple questions about her psychic powers. Yes, of course he knew about them. It was logical and he was very much interested in them. He wanted to drag them off to the SPR office and do his own testing. Not to mention how they were in class and in debates. Martin had taken a shine to them pretty fast and it was kind of scary. If the fundraiser doesn't blow her cover then Martin will probably be the reason.</p>
      <p>"He's going to be in a whole new area of enchanted. We might need to study Martin himself with the new scientific area." Madoka couldn't help but laugh, because she knew Martin completely adored the two. They were great in class and Mai's abilities were something else. She saw her boyfriend give her a weird look and she figured she should explained more. "He knows about her abilities and in class Yasu and she are very amazing with their knowledge and ability to debate against the others."</p>
      <p>He nodded understanding. It might have been five years, and he thought she had changed from all those years. In reality, she didn't change at all. Her personality has just matured and she found something she seemed to really love. "So, Yasuhara is here too." He mumbled getting lost in his thoughts before speaking again. "Speaking of debating…What about Noll? He's going to be mad that you guys didn't tell him that you were coming. You really should have reached out to him."</p>
      <p>Mai hummed thinking for a moment. "Speaking of Naru…you can't tell him that we're here. Don't blab." She got a weird look from the other. "I just don't want him to be unhappy I'm here. If I can hold off that pain for him a little while longer than I will do it the best I can." She gave the man a painful smile trying to look as cheerful as she could.</p>
      <p>Lin was completely confused on why she thought he would be unhappy. He would be more upset that she didn't reach for help during the past few years. Did she have any idea what kind of effect she had on the man? Was she even aware of the feelings he harbored for the young girl?</p>
      <p>There was only one thing he could think that might have happened. Something must have happened before leaving Japan and he had no idea what that was. Meaning it was something serious since Naru had not talked to him about it. Suspicious.</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Also, I decided last chapter that I wasn't really going to make Lin upset or mad. It was more towards himself for not being there for Mai with her powers. Also, I used an actual haunting place in this, but I just kind of did my own thing with it. So, facts not might be perfect.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lin and Madoka were heading back to their apartment after dropping Mai off. Mai and Lin had given each other their phone numbers, because why not. If either of them needed something this was easier than struggling to figure out how to contact each other. Right now Lin was in deep thought as he drove and Madoka was going a little mad.</p>
<p>"Okay, I know you're mad at me but at least try and talk to me!" She was upset from the silence from her boyfriend and it's been like this since the other found out about Mai. He talked to her in short sentences but that was it.</p>
<p>"I'm not mad." At her at least. He was pretty upset with himself and Naru. They didn't really leave anything behind for any of them to contact them with. He knew that Mai had reached out to Madoka, but he had no idea how. He was pretty sure none of them left anything. Well, it was probably easy to figure their e-mails out from online. Madoka would be under the Cambridge instructor tab and Naru and he would be on the list for the SPR website. "I know Mai said that she liked the field, but what if the only reason she had to go down this path was because of her powers?"</p>
<p>It was possible she didn't see any other way around it and decided to just go down this path for her life. Maybe, he was just over thinking things.</p>
<p>"Maybe, at one point that was the case."</p>
<p>Lin couldn't help but cringe at the words. If that was the case then they could have done something, before she picked her choice in career. He wasn't sure if it was too late or not.</p>
<p>"But…" She couldn't help but glance at her boyfriend and smiled. She understood completely now what was happening to him. He was so sweet thinking of the young woman and worrying. "I don't think you can tear her away from this anymore. She's completely enthralled by the world of ghost hunting and parapsychology."</p>
<p>Lin gave her a skeptic look as they reached a stoplight. They were almost home now, which he was happy about. He was ready to relax on the couch and destress.</p>
<p>Madoka rolled her eyes at him. He probably wouldn't believe her until he saw for himself. A sudden idea came over her and she lit up at it causing a huge smile to take over her face. "Alright, how about you come watch the classes? Noll shouldn't have an issue with it if I ask Martin about it. Martin would more than love the idea of you sitting in and giving your own thoughts about the subjects."</p>
<p>"And what if Noll gets suspicious about me going to the classes for the day? What if Martins asks for him to come along?"</p>
<p>Madoka scoffed and rolled her eyes. "The only way Noll is going to class is if he finds out Mai is there, so we're safe as long as he doesn't find out."</p>
<p>It took until they were only a block from the apartment to think through the offer. If he could see for himself then it probably would be a good idea. Madoka was right though. Noll wouldn't go to the class unless he was being forced by Martin, which doesn't happen until later on. "Alright. When would be a good day to go?"</p>
<p>
  <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
</p>
<p>Naru had just gotten out of the shower as he picked up one of his many case files that was lying on his desk. He was home now and it was some time in the evening, but he wasn't sure what time. Time always seemed to escape him pretty easily these last few years. They just got back from a case earlier and Lin was acting weird when he suddenly decided to leave for the day. Probably to go see Madoka, since they were gone for about five days. He just didn't understand why he couldn't tell him that. There was no reason to think more on the subject though.</p>
<p>He couldn't help but let out a sigh as he sat in his chair to look at the file. The case looked really simple and it would be an easy job to end the week.</p>
<p>Apparently, the grandkids to this couple had put in the request. Their grandfather had ended up in the hospital recently from falling down the stairs. At least that's what they thought. When they had went over to take care of them they noticed a lot of things happening all the time. Mostly door slamming and things moving around, but it was mostly furniture. Apparently, their grandparents were completely used to this and always just yelled at whatever was causing this. One of the kids had almost tumbled down the stairs too, but they had caught themselves.</p>
<p>Seemed pretty simple. Almost too simple for Naru to want to take the case. There is obviously something going on, but it sounds like the spirit is slowly working the way up to something. It was only a guess though, but they should be able to figure out what's happening pretty fast. He wasn't worried about it. It gave him something to do.</p>
<p>"I see you're still excited about cases."</p>
<p>The sudden voice caused Naru to pause in reading. It's not like it's weird for his parents to show up, but it wasn't his parents at all. He slowly moved his eyes up to locate the mirror that was across the room. Which, not to his surprise, a younger version of himself was waving happily with a small smile on his face. He couldn't help but sigh as he glanced down at the papers once again. "Gene, what do you want?"</p>
<p>It's not like it's weird for him to show up, but the last time he did was several months ago. When he first showed up he kept saying he had things to take care of, but wouldn't actually voice what things were. Which was completely imprudent, how was he supposed to help his brother if he didn't talk?</p>
<p>The young ghost hummed thinking for a moment. He hasn't talked to Mai in a while, so he had no idea if his brother knew yet. Considering he was in his office looking over cases told him all he needed to know. "Anything interesting in that file?" He didn't need to be told though. He already knew because of Naru's thoughts about the case.</p>
<p>"Pretty standard?" Gene kept his gentle smile on his face as he ignored the question. "Well, if that's it then I should go!"</p>
<p>"Gene." He tried to get to him before he vanished, but he was too late. He couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. His brother was still a headache as a spirit.</p>
<p>Oh well. He should e-mail the case to Lin before going to sleep. They would probably talk about it Monday in the office.</p>
<p>
  <strong>-EEEE-</strong>
</p>
<p>Three days later Lin had found himself sitting in a seat that was by Martin's desk in Cambridge. The next day they were going on a case, so this was probably the best time for this. Naru was against this at first, but Martin basically gave the option of Lin going or him. Obviously, Lin was then told to go.</p>
<p>Mai and Yasu were up in their seats talking to two other people who were sitting in the seat in front of them. He recognized the girl from the other day, but he had no idea who the other was.</p>
<p>"Alright, class, today we're just going to be talking about some of the more famous hauntings around. Everyone has heard about the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, right?" Martin was pulling up something on the screen showing a photo that was taken 1936.</p>
<p>Mai and Yasu had heard of some of the details, since they usually glance around the internet to read about haunting cases.</p>
<p>Liam hummed as he stared at the photo before raising his hand. He didn't wait to get called on though before talking. "Are we going to be talking about if we think the place is actually haunted? I completely agree though that it's haunted."</p>
<p>Mai's eyes widen as she stared at the red hair guy. "What? You can't actually believe that, right?" Martin just smiled completely enjoying where this was going.</p>
<p>Liam blinked as he looked back at Mai. "I mean, yeah? There are so many reports about it. Things just don't happen."</p>
<p>Lin already knew the photo was most likely faked, plus the only people who probably said anything about it were probably paid. He was pretty sure there was no Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.</p>
<p>Mai just sighed deeply shaking her head. "You need to realize that a haunted spot is a good tourist area if someone wants to be freaked out. There are plenty of places that fake it to get attention. Besides, if there was a spirit there they probably would be a lot more violent. Especially with the past events that happened to her. Time warps the mind of a spirit, and if they don't move on they just get super violent. It would have been so bad they probably would have to shut it down completely. Or, get someone to come in and take care of her, professionally. I'm not talking about those wannabe ghost hunters that just go with only a camera and no knowledge of anything."</p>
<p>Trista couldn't help but laugh a little. "Wannabe ghost hunter…"</p>
<p>Liam turned to Trista his face getting red. "Shut up! I was only a kid then!"</p>
<p>Mai covered her mouth in fake shock. "You're…a wannabe ghost hunter? Scandalous."</p>
<p>Liam pointed his finger towards Mai as his face got even redder. "I was a kid! Anyways, there has to be some part of this to be true! Why else would it come up anyways?"</p>
<p>"That's like saying someone died in your house, so it must be haunted." Mai leaned against her desk thinking for a moment. "Maybe, it was haunted at one point, but I highly doubt that spirit is still around. That photo is fake though, so there wasn't actual evidence that she was still around."</p>
<p>Liam squinted at Mai judging her from saying it was fake so casually.</p>
<p>"Why do you think it's fake?" Martin decided to finally cut into their conversation.</p>
<p>Mai's eyes moved to the older male, then to the picture that was showing from the projector. "A regular camera wouldn't be able to catch something like this. The most you would get is more of a blur then an actual figure. It's just way to perfect. Even the cameras that people use for cases, are built with special lens that helps us do our job. There is just no way would something like this be possible in 1936, they would have had to do something to the picture." She shrugged and leaned back in her chair.</p>
<p>Martin glanced at the others in the room to see if they had anything else to say. Most of them were just staring at the photo to see if they could figure out some way to see if it was fake themselves. He just grinned and turned to the next slide to continue onward to their next haunted case.</p>
<p>The whole day ended up being about old haunted cases that may or may not be real. Everyone had their own opinion about each one and Mai basically argued with everyone. Martin was having a great time with it. Lin didn't say much though. Once in a while he did when things got really heated he would step in and defuse the situation. Martin seemed to enjoy letting it reach as high as it can until they were all basically yelling at each other.</p>
<p>It was very chaotic and Mai was in the middle of it almost all the time. Everyone seemed to be having fun though, and Lin was pretty impressed.</p>
<p>By the time the end of the day rolled around he was exhausted though. There was a lot yelling basically all day. He leaned against the wall outside of the room and sighed.</p>
<p>"Did we wear you out?" Mai popped in front of him smiling.</p>
<p>Lin chuckled and moved to pat her head. "I just wasn't expecting so much…arguing. The whole class got so into it."</p>
<p>"It's amazing, right? It's my favorite thing, because we can bounce different theories at each other." Her smile grew just thinking about it.</p>
<p>Lin rolled his eyes as he moved off the wall and head down the hall. "You say that, but you were speaking to everyone in a way that made it seem you knew the facts and they were being stupid." He couldn't help but think what it'll be like when Mai meets Naru again. It was going to be insane and he was already getting a headache again.</p>
<p>Mai laughed as she followed the other. Yasu was probably talking to the others anyways. "That's because you need to state facts then what you debate with everyone. They still don't understand you can't put your own thoughts into your research. You can't just believe. You need to prove it."</p>
<p>
  <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Mai opened her eyes slowly and looked up at the ceiling. She was very groggy and tried to move her arms. She couldn't. "What…?" She mumbled as she moved her arm again. Still meant with resistance.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She decided to blink a couple times and looked around the room. There was gray concrete walls and the ceiling was even gray. She couldn't see the floor though. She tried to move again, but flinched when whatever was holding her down moved into a wound that was on her wrist.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Rope burn. She managed to connect the dots. She was in a dream, which was very confusing. She wasn't on a case and she was pretty sure the others weren't going on a case anytime soon. She was way too far away for her to dream for them anyways.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>There was a sound of a door opening up from behind her and a loud bang from when it closed. It didn't sound like a normal wooden door. There was a sound difference she has learned that throughout the years. Maybe…metal? That didn't sound right to her either.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>All the sudden there was a male in front of her with a huge grin on his face. He had very blonde hair and brown eyes she took note the moment she saw his face. Nothing else jumped at her though. No scars. No birthmarks on the face. No moles. His face was pretty smooth in general. There wasn't much to work with just seeing the face, which was going to be annoying.</em>
</p>
<p>"<em>Hello, my love…" His voice was hair-raising. She had no idea why but it literally made her skin crawl. Probably, the reaction of the person she is replacing. First person was always an experience.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>She didn't speak though. Which means she probably wasn't going to get any names. This dream probably showed the death, so this was the first of the puzzle piece.</em>
</p>
<p>"<em>I love you so much…" He mumbled as he moved his hand to caress her cheek. "I'm sorry…I just can't help myself. Please understand."</em></p>
<p>"<em>Char-." Mai finally spoke but was cut off by the man's hand covering her mouth. It was so powerful that she might have gotten a bruise on her face.</em></p>
<p>"<em>Shush, my love. It'll be over soon." He had pulled away heading off in a direction she couldn't see. "I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but please understand that this is for an experiment."</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Mai was confused now as she tried to see where the man went. Which she didn't have to wait long until he had come back in her view. He was holding a container of…something that was moving around a lot. It looked like several little somethings.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He gave her a ominous smile as he moved her head to open her mouth. "Please, swallow so the experiment goes as planned."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The next thing she knew the container was opening up and was being dumped in her mouth.</em>
</p>
<p>Mai's eyes opened slowly and looked at the ceiling for several seconds. That was undeniably bugs that she had swallowed.</p>
<p>Her stomach was turning in a horrible way and she was trying to do her best to calm her stomach down and herself. Her effort was futile. She was up seconds later and running to her bathroom to throw up whatever was in her stomach.</p>
<p>'<em>Naru…' </em>It was the only thing that made sense.</p>
<p>She sighed deeply and moved off the floor and went to get her notebook. Going out of her room, she went to the fridge to get some water and started writing out her dream.</p>
<p>When she was happy with everything she wrote down she went to grab her phone, but blinked staring at the time. It was three in the morning. She should send a text and if Lin knows what's good for him he better not be up.</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>To Lin - Call me ASAP when you get up.</strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Hey, so this part is like a little crack part. I recently watched an anime and I can't help myself. Honestly, I could totally see Madoka and Lin finding out about how insane Mai's feelings are this way. I don't know if this is actually part of the story but it might be-</strong>
</p>
<p>Mai was sitting on the couch watching the screen as one of the shows she's been watching nonstop played. The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited.</p>
<p>Honestly, there was really only one reason why she was so engrossed with the show. Daisuke Kambe.</p>
<p>Her eyes haven't even left his figure from the moment he showed up on the screen. She's been sitting her for a couple hours now just watching him. Sometimes she would even go back and watch an episode over again, because she needed more of a certain moment. At least she was safe for the moment with Yasu gone. He had went to meet up with Madoka and Lin, since he hadn't had a chance to meet with Lin yet since he had found out.</p>
<p>So, she could sit here and fangirl all she wanted.</p>
<p>Probably not the best idea in the long run, because she was completely zoned out when Yasu came back. He couldn't help but smirk seeing her sitting curled up on the couch watching the screen so intently.</p>
<p>He took his time to sneak up behind the couch carefully, which the other couple who had come up with him gave him a weird look. He just shushed them and leaned against the couch. "I see you're watching Daisuke again…" He whispered so he didn't startle her.</p>
<p>Mai bit her lip as she didn't realize what was actually happening. "Daisuke…is just so amazing." Her tone was calm as she was still entranced.</p>
<p>"Oh? Why is he so amazing?" Yasu's smirk grew a little as Mai played right into his plan. He couldn't help but glance at the couple and winked. Which only confused them further.</p>
<p>Mai whirled her head around to stare at Yasu before squealing and flopping down on the couch. "That's a stupid question!" She pointed at the screen where the said man was standing. "Just look at him. That black hair and those dark blue eyes…He's just so…" She squealed again and moved to hold one of the pillows on the couch. "Naru probably would look amazing in that suit…also Daisuke's smirk reminds me of Naru's! It's that smug smirk that just…"She squealed. "They're both so arrogant too, but it's one of the features that makes you love them more. Even if you just want to slap them…" She mumbled as she stared at the screen.</p>
<p>Yasu just smiled as he has heard most of this already. He couldn't help but look at the couple. Lin's eyes were extremely wide and Madoka was obviously trying not to laugh.</p>
<p>"Oh! They both are so slow to process things that are new to them. It's so cute when they get that twisted look in their eyes, but they also act so confident afterwards…because they redo something and it seems to always be better than the original…" Mai groaned as she covered her head with the pillow. She couldn't help but squeal though once again thinking about the two. "They're obviously different in some aspects…but they're both so adorable. Also that look when they're trying to figure something out…" She squealed for the billionth time since Yasu had showed up.</p>
<p>At this point Lin was now trying not to laugh. Madoka was doing her best to keep calm. "I…I see. You have an interesting type of man..." Right after that Madoka broke and started to laugh.</p>
<p>Mai's eyes widen at the new voice in the room and shot up. Her eyes widen seeing the two standing there. "Yasu!" She screeched as the other ran to his room. Mai wasted no time in jumping over the couch going after the other.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone!<br/>Thanks for reading!<br/>I hope everything with the case makes sense.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Day One</em>
</p><p>It was around seven in the morning when they arrived at the small house. They had their usual team of interns working with them and they were working on unloading the van at the moment.</p><p>Karie Mills, she had light blue eyes and very dark purple hair. It was her third year at Cambridge, but most of that year was spent at the SPR office and on cases. There was only so much you can do in the class before you had to learn hands on. It made sense in their field. She didn't have any psychic powers though, but she was better at the gadgets that everyone used. She made a lot of equipment that one could test their powers with. Ghost hunting wasn't really her thing, but she needed to do this for class.</p><p>Reno Walters, he had green eyes with white hair. He actually loved ghost hunting, but he had no psychic powers. His area would be information gathering on the cases. He was in his fourth and final year at college though. Which, afterwards he was planning on going to the states and helping out at one of the SPR offices over there.</p><p>Klay Graves, He had light brown eyes and spiky dark brown hair. He was also planning on going to the states after college. He wasn't going to the same place as Reno though. He was planning on teaching Parapsychology in one of the colleges in California. He was also in his last year of college.</p><p>Naru was leaning on the van going through the case file. There was just something that didn't sit right with him. This started out pretty simple, but was slowly getting violent. There was a couple different reasons he could think of, but none of them really fit what was going on.</p><p>He bit the inside of his cheek as he stared down at the papers. Outside his expression was blank, but he was just trying to make sense of everything. There was probably more going on than it seemed.</p><p>Lin had come up beside him and leaned onto the van too. "What's wrong?"</p><p>Naru sighed softly and closed the folder. "Something weird is going on. Reno, when you get everything in the base I want you to start your research. Klay and Karie you know the rest." He walked into the house heading towards the base.</p><p>Lin was right on his heels and was glancing around. Nothing was exactly off putting about the house. The house had just gotten remodeled a couple years ago. There were a few deaths in the house, but nothing insane.</p><p>The two that had hired them said there was also a bug problem, but they really didn't want to hire anyone and risk them getting hurt. Which, they could easily work around bugs. It's not like a bug is the end of the world.</p><p>A couple hours later and nothing had happened so far. No doors opening and closing. Nothing being moved around. No one had any accident. It was just silent and it was irritating Naru. From what it sounded like it was happening almost all the time.</p><p>"Noll, you need to relax. It's only been one day." Lin was sitting by the monitors watching the cameras. He wasn't actually expecting anything though. First days are mostly a miss for them.</p><p>"I'm getting a weird feeling…" Naru muttered as he also was staring at the monitors.</p><p>"I'm probably not going to make things better than." Reno spoke up from behind them. He was smiling, but he usually was always smiling. "There have only been four deaths total since this house was built. Ronald Whiteford, which he died from old age. Josh Williamson, he died from a drug overdose. I looked in his past though and nothing stood out to me on why he would be haunting here though. Alivia Parsons, which she died from old age. Charlie Parsons, which he died from old age a couple years after his wife. They were also the last people to own the house before this couple. It was abandoned for ten years though and was restored a couple years ago. Nothing really stands out to me honestly."</p><p>Klay came up besides Reno and easily took the papers the other was reading off of. "Seriously? That's kind of insane. Shouldn't there be more information?"</p><p>"Just because a house is on the older side doesn't mean anything significate has happened." Naru muttered turning to face his own file and writing the new information down. Nothing was standing out though.</p><p>"Yeah…" Klay muttered as he still read through the information. Nothing caught his eye though. Letting out a frustrated sigh he shoved the papers back into Reno's hands. "Karie, we're gonna go around the house and get an update on the temps and get a read on the house." He was out the door and Karie followed skipping behind him.</p><p>Reno was still smiling as he went back to his laptop. "I'm gonna look more in details about the history with the house. I might be missing something and I rather get every bit of information. Just punch me if I'm not responding."</p><p>Naru let out a sigh and pinched his nose. "That's not necessary." At least he didn't need to tell them how to do their job. For the most part they knew what they were doing with the basics and were more than willing to work.</p><p>
  <em>Day Two - 11am</em>
</p><p>Nothing had happened that night. It was completely silent and not even a door moved in the slightest. Klay and Karie were out updating the temps and changing up the cameras. Reno was on his laptop having about twenty different tabs open and writing things down once in a while.</p><p>Naru was staring intently at the cameras willing something to move. Which, wasn't working at all.</p><p>There was a loud bang all the sudden from the corner of the room. It startled Reno and made him jump slightly and looked at the one who was the cause. "Lin? Are you frustrated?"</p><p>"No?" He blinked looking back at the other. "There was a bug." He brought up his notebook completely expecting to see a squashed bug. He frowned. There was nothing. "I was sure I hit it…" He glanced around his files and even under the desk. "It's gone."</p><p>"Ghost bug?" Reno went back to his tabs and opened up a new one to type in another thing. "Or is it bug ghost? There has been theories that some ghost can change their appearances. I don't really know the extent of that, but I think they can create illusions. That one makes more sense than anything."</p><p>"Illusions makes more sense than a spirit changing their appearance." Naru muttered as he finally decided to just lean back in his seat to relax a moment. "It just doesn't make sense that they could change their appearance."</p><p>Reno blinked at the page he had open and his smile faltered for a second. "Hm?" He was curious as he read through the report from a hospital that was around the area. "Alivia Parsons, she has quite a record."</p><p>Naru blinked and turned his attention to the young man. "Explain."</p><p>"It's nothing much, honestly. Just little accidents here and there, but something suspicious was going on. The hospital report thought it had to do with her husband though. She even went to counseling, but it didn't work out. Maybe, I should be looking into her husband…" All the sudden there were about five bugs crawling over his laptop and Reno's whole body twitched. "Nope." He suddenly shut his laptop violently.</p><p>"Bugs?" Lin had been writing everything down when the other suddenly closed his laptop.</p><p>Reno shot up slamming his hands on the table. "I'll look it up when I get back. I need to walk." He walked out as fast as he could from base and went to go look for the other two.</p><p>Lin and Naru went back to what they were doing not paying any mind to what just happened. They already knew the other couldn't handle bugs. Later on though when Reno came back expecting to clean bug guts from his computer he had found nothing. He paid no mind to it, because in the moment they easily could have went flying.</p><p>Nothing happened for the rest of the day besides mysterious bugs disappearing no matter how many times they hit them.</p><p>
  <em>Day Three – 6am</em>
</p><p>Lin was staring down at his phone as he reread the text message he got from Mai. Naru had been watching the monitors the whole night and was now sleeping on the couch. He couldn't exactly call her right this moment.</p><p>He frowned as he read the message again. It sounded pretty serious though. The others should be up in an hour, so he could slip out and actually call her back. Besides, would she actually be up right now? She was probably sleeping, right? Her classes started a little after eight though. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair trying to think of something. This was seriously frustrating, but he was gonna have to wait.</p><p>It was around seven thirty when Reno had walked in the room. He went straight for his laptop and started to get to work. Naru was still sleeping, so this would be a good time to leave and make the call. "I'll be back…" He muttered and walked out of the base.</p><p>Lin wasted no time and called Mai when he was down the hall away from the base. He didn't want to risk Naru waking up and actually over hearing the conversation. He also needed to make sure he wasn't near any of the cameras. He didn't have to wait long until she answered.</p><p>"<em>Lin! Can you tell me the details of the case you're on?"</em></p><p>Her words came out rush and also confused him greatly. "I can…but is something wrong?"</p><p>"<em>I'm pretty sure I had a dream that might deal with the case. I'm way too far away from Japan for it to be something related to them."</em></p><p>Lin's eyes widen and he glanced around just to make sure no one was around. "Nothing has happened here though. We've been doing some research, but nothing has stood out to us. The people who lived here though were experiencing things moving around and doors opening and closing. They even got hurt a couple times though."</p><p>There was silence on the other end for a moment before Mai spoke a minute later. <em>"What information did you dig up?"</em></p><p>"Not much. The house is kind of old and it did get remodeled a couple years ago, but it was abandoned at one point almost ten years ago. There have been a total of four different deaths on the property though." He didn't have his notes though, so he couldn't fully remember all the names. Just pieces of the names.</p><p>"<em>I sent you an e-mail about the dream. It's easier to understand with my notes than me just telling you about it. It has a lot more details. You don't happen to know who some of the people who died there are you?"</em></p><p>"I know most of them were from old age and a drug overdose. We decided pretty fast that the guy who died with the drug overdose wasn't our ghost." He was trying to think of the actual names, but he was more worried that Naru was going to come out at any second. He really didn't want to explain who he was talking to. That stress takes a toll on you.</p><p>"<em>Does one of them start with a "Char" or had any relations with someone with the start of the name?"</em></p><p>Lin paused for a second before something finally clicked. "Charlie Parsons."</p><p>A lot of things happened at once when he said the name, one his phone cut the call. Two, doors started swinging around violently and some of the furniture had started grinding against the floor. This wasn't the thing that caught his attention though. It was the bugs that were crawling up the walls. There were probably hundreds of them in a row just crawling and disappearing once they reached the ceiling.</p><p>"Lin!" Naru had rushed out of the base room, which was a lot harder than it should have. He had to basically force the door to stay open. Reno was right behind him, but the young man was looking at all the bugs. Soon Klay and Karie were with the group too. They probably woke up with everything going on.</p><p>Lin's eyes instantly went to his phone and tried to get his e-mail up, but whatever happened turned off his phone. Which, he tried to turn it back on. Didn't work. Of course it didn't work. "Naru. Can you use your phone?"</p><p>The man in question gave him a weird look, but proceeded to pull out his phone. He frowned though when he tried to unlock it and nothing happened. He tried to turn it back on, but nothing. "No. What's happening?"</p><p>As suddenly it started things slowly stopped moving and the bugs had vanished from the walls. Reno was still staring at the wall. He couldn't help but scratch his arm at the thought of all the little bugs. "Bug Ghost. Ghost bug? Ghost bugs. I think that fits perfectly what's happening."</p><p>Klay glanced at the other and rolled his eyes. "I don't think it's actually real, but it does explain why we can't actually kill them."</p><p>"I'm going outside." Lin suddenly declared and went for the front door. He needed to see the e-mail from Mai. It would probably help them out trying to figure out what's happening.</p><p>"Lin." Naru went right after the other male. "What were you doing out here?"</p><p>"Talking to someone." He couldn't just come out and say he was talking with Mai. There were multiple reasons why that probably wouldn't be a good idea. For both of them.</p><p>"Who." Naru was glaring at the older man as they walked. He was hiding something, obviously. There couldn't be one respectable reason why Lin couldn't tell him. He was being imprudent.</p><p>Lin didn't reply back to the other and went to grab the handle to the front door. When he pulled the door however it didn't budge. "We have a problem. We're locked in here."</p><p>"What?" Naru went around Lin and tried to open up the door himself. He didn't say anything though and looked back at the other. "What's happening?"</p><p>
  <em>Day Three – 7pm</em>
</p><p>After what happened this morning Lin and Naru had an argument. Lin refused to say who he was talking to and Naru was pretty upset with this. Little things happened around the house, but nothing major.</p><p>At least that was until a loud crash happened from the front door. Which, stupidly enough, they didn't have a camera there. So, everyone had to get up to see what was happening.</p><p>What they witnessed was shocking to say the least.</p><p>"Locked doors are seriously a pain! You really need to carry an axe with you at all times."</p><p>There stood Yasu with an axe resting on his shoulder and was pushing up his glasses. Acting like this was the most normal thing in the world. Lin and Naru were completely shocked to see the man. The other three were completely confused at what was happening.</p><p>Yasu smiled seeing Lin and grabbed the bag he had brought with him. "Lin, I have some stuff for you. Tried contacting you again, but couldn't get through. You have no idea how hard it was to get your location."</p><p>Naru immediately glared at the said man before turning to look at Yasu, which wasn't speaking in Japanese at all. In fact you couldn't even pick up a trail of his accent. He was the top of his class though, so he shouldn't be to surprise at that. "Yasu. What are you doing in England?"</p><p>"Oh! It's big boss. I haven't seen you for a long time." Yasu was all smiles before completely ignoring the question and looking at Lin. "Anyways, I was planning on just dropping this off. I have to go, so I can make it back to London for classes in the morning."</p><p>Yeah, they were a good chuck of hours out of London. It took a while for them to get here. Yes, Mai was down the street in a car with Madoka.</p><p>Naru squinted at the other trying to think through things. "Answer my question." He had no idea what classes the other could possibly be doing. The last he heard he was planning on going to Tokyo University and getting a job afterwards.</p><p>Yasu ignored him yet again, and went to Lin to give him the bag. "Alivia Parsons is more than likely the one who is haunting this place. There is more information in the notebook." He turned around ready to head back out of the house. Yasu blinked as he stared in front of him at the door he just chopped in half. It was completely whole again and was more than likely locked. "Huh. That's kind of inconvenient."</p><p>"Don't try the axe." Karie spoke up from the side. The three were watching the stranger talk casually to their bosses. Lin acted completely normal seeing him, and Naru seemed pretty irritated. "We have an axe and we tried it already. The door is wood, but it's acting like metal basically."</p><p>"Yeah, that's what happens when the spirits want to be complicated and lock you in." Yasu moved to set the axe down by the door. "Spirits." He mumbled as he pulled out a walkie-talkie from the side of his pants. He pressed the button to link up with the one Madoka and Mai had. "Hey, I'm stuck."</p><p>"<em>Are you shitting me?"</em> Madoka's voice filled the room and she was very much irritated. Mai obviously couldn't say anything at the moment. Only when the walkie-talkie was off on their side.</p><p>"I told you this was going to happen if I just came barging in."</p><p>Lin had completely ignored the two and went to open up the bag that held all sorts of papers. He ignored most of them and went straight for the notebook. He flipped it opened and read through the first part, which was Mai's dream.</p><p>It explained the bugs that were around the house.</p><p>There were also a couple more pages that seemed to be part of dreams Mai have had. She must have slept a lot up until this point and tried to get as much information as she could. He was pretty impressed and kind of disturbed from reading the entries.</p><p>"I would like an explanation, Lin and Yasu." Naru was very irritated. He wanted answers and he didn't want to be ignored.</p><p>Yasu paused in talking to Madoka for a moment, but Lin didn't move from reading. Yasu rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm part of the Parapsychology program at Cambridge. Surprise." He even went so far as doing jazz hands.</p><p>Naru blinked at the sudden information. He wasn't expecting that the male would ever go into this field willingly. "What?"</p><p>"Don't judge me. I'm really into it and I won't be judged for it." He was aiming to be a little dramatic, before pressing the button to talk again. "Naru's judging what I'm doing with my life. I'm hurt."</p><p>"<em>That's not what's important right now."</em></p><p>"She's right." Lin suddenly cut in and held up the notebook he was looking at. "Alivia Parsons is definitely the one we are after. We have all sorts of reports in here with the hospital visits and some of the old blueprints of the house."</p><p>Reno went over and glanced in the bag. He took out an old document that showed the layout of the house. "There is a storage area circled…Is that where we need to go?"</p><p>Yasu shoved his glasses up for absolutely no reason. "That's where we find the body."</p><p>Klay was very much confused by that statement. "What? She was found dead though? Of old age, right?"</p><p>"That's what the report said." Yasu completely agreed and crossed his arms and nodded. "But her body went missing the day before the actual autopsy and the case went cold, and before you ask why they were doing an autopsy…there was a suspicion of foul play."</p><p>"How exactly did her body go missing? I'm sure they had records and cameras in the room. That makes no sense." Karie was trying to understand the situation herself. Reno was the best researcher she knew and suddenly this stranger comes in basically having everything figure out. Reno has been working hours upon hours trying to figure something out.</p><p>Yasu hummed before shrugging. "It's a mystery." Obviously leaving a huge bit of information out of the story. He knew exactly how. Her husband, Charlie, his job was actually handling the bodies. It was easy to sneak someone out when you're the one handling them all. Especially, if you're using a fake identity to even have the job. He was probably using a bunch of old corps for the experiments he was conducting.</p><p>Honestly, he doesn't know everything that had happened. There were still a lot of strings not attached, so he didn't think he was getting the full story. They probably won't know anything until they go to that room.</p><p>"Yasu, can I have the walkie-talkie?" Lin stuffed the notebook back into the bag for the moment. They would probably look through the rest at a later date. Yasu shrugged and handed it over for Lin to take. He wasted no time in pressing the button and talking. "You can probably head back to London. I'm sure Martin won't mind if he misses one class. I think we can get things wrapped up in the next couple days."</p><p>"<em>You think. We really don't want to come drive all the way out here just to save you guys again."</em></p><p>Naru twitched at the word 'we'. He was silent this whole time, because something just didn't feel right to him. There was something strange going on and Lin knew what was happening. Madoka did too, but that was obvious. No one came to mind though. He couldn't think of anyone who would come with either of them. If it was his father then he would have been the one talking instead of Madoka. He was gonna have to do more thinking.</p><p>"<em>You know what? I'll stay at a hotel. That way we are still in range with the walkie-talkie. If you guys need anything just let me know."</em></p><p>"Madoka, we're going to be fine." There was no reply back and Lin sighed deeply. There shouldn't be any more surprises in this case. He was sure they have it all figured out for the most part.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone!<br/>I hope you enjoy and I hope everything makes sense!<br/>Stay safe!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mai flopped down on the bed in the hotel that they were staying at. She was completely exhausted, and it sucked not being with the others. Being left on the sidelines sucked, but this was the best choice. Not to mention she wouldn't be much help being so drained.</p><p>"You look pretty rough." Madoka was in the middle of changing into something a lot more comfortable. They had packed an overnight bag just in case they had to stay. It was good to always be prepared.</p><p>"It takes a lot of energy to do back to back dreams. Not to mention astral projecting to figure out where the storage room was." Mai rolled to her side and closed her eyes. "I'm just happy it worked out in the long run."</p><p>"I didn't know you were able to do dreams back to back. From what I understood they just came whenever they wanted." Madoka had finished getting dressed and went to sit down on her bed. She took out her phone to look at a couple things.</p><p>"It's not recommended that I force the dreams." Mai leaned up off the bed and raised her shirt to show off a massive bruise across her stomach. "I have more of a chance sustaining the injuries of the spirit I'm projecting. It's not as fatal as the ones in the dream, so this one was probably what killed her. Usually, separating the dreams gives time to allow things to heal on the other side. So, by forcing out dream after dream it gives less time and occasionally I have several injuries." Mai hummed thinking for a moment. "It's different though if I'm being one of the people the spirit is killing. That all depends on the malice of said spirit."</p><p>Madoka blinked a little shocked as she looked at the bruise. "I mean…I know sometimes injuries can transfer. You shouldn't do dreams back to back. What if something really bad happens?"</p><p>Mai laughed and shook her head. "Relax. It always comes in the form of a bruise. The actual wounds can't transfer over. At least from what I've known. I'm pretty good about separating during that time, so I don't get hurt that much."</p><p>"Separating? Like what you do for astral projecting?"</p><p>She hummed to think about how to actually explain it. "Sort of, but they're two different plains. It's like my own plain connects with the other and we connect for a short time? It's really hard to explain honestly. I know there is a lot of different research, but I think everyone might just be different." She decided to shrug it off and flop back down on her bed. "Anyways, we should sleep. I'm exhausted." Mai rolled back over and closed her eyes to relax. "Goodnight."</p><p>"Yeah, goodnight." Madoka smiled as she looked at the young girl. She only got to meet her for a small bit in Japan, but she could tell how much she has grown. Naru is going to be in for a shock.</p><p>
  <em>Mai opened her eyes slowly as she saw the familiar sky and blank plain that had those little floating balls of light. She couldn't help but smile a little seeing them, before turning and glaring at the one who pulled her here. "Gene, you couldn't let me rest? Really? I'm exhausted and this doesn't help."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The young man was standing and had a smile on his face. "That's no way to great your brother-in-law."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mai let out a groan and hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "You're not. Why did you call me here?" Usually she is pretty excited to see him, but she was tired. She just wanted to sleep and not deal with his jokes. It's literally all the time.</em>
</p><p>"<em>I noticed that my brother doesn't know you're in England."</em></p><p>
  <em>He was stating the most obvious thing and Mai just sighed in frustration. "Of course he doesn't. I'm trying to hide it for as long as possible."</em>
</p><p>"<em>You might need to help them. It's a little more complicated than just finding a body."</em></p><p>"<em>What? I'm not going. Yasu is there with them. They'll be fine." The case would become complicated if she decided to show up suddenly. Naru wouldn't be able to think of the actual case and probably be more upset with herself.</em></p><p>
  <em>All the sudden things changed around them, and it always caused her to get a little woozy when it happened. She felt herself lose her balance for only a moment as the plain switched to the room.</em>
</p><p>"<em>Gene." She started up, but cut herself short when she actually understood where she was. Not to mention what she saw in the room. "What the hell is this?"</em></p><p>"<em>This is what they're about to walk into."</em></p><p>
  <em>Mai covered her mouth and willed her stomach to calm down. "I don't remember this being part of any of my dreams." She managed to mumble out. She was sure she would remember something like this.</em>
</p><p>"<em>You were tied up for most of your dreams. You wouldn't be able to see behind you. Not to mention…" He glanced around the room taking in the rest of the room slowly. "These guys have been here for a long time. Most of them are dead though."</em></p><p>
  <em>Mai went up to the glass and ran her hand across it smoothly. "This case is pretty simple…but the facts of everything is just disturbing."</em>
</p><p>"<em>It's simple, because the death is still fresh. Imagine what would happen in another couple ten years." Gene walked towards Mai. Stepping on a couple of the dead bugs bodies. Beetles actually. The bugs were beetles that Charlie was messing around for several years. Most likely conditioning them. Which, Gene really didn't want to think of how or what possessed him to do it.</em></p><p>"<em>I need to talk with Yasu." Mai pulled away and closed her eyes to focus back on her body.</em></p><p>"<em>Not going to tell my brother?"</em></p><p>
  <em>Mai just smiled as she felt herself slowly start to fade away. "Sorry, but it's not time yet."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gene sighed deeply and shook his head.</em>
</p><p>Mai slowly opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling for a moment. Her body was exhausted, and it was going to take several minutes for her to move.</p><p>
  <em>Day Four – 5:45 am</em>
</p><p>Yasu and Lin were in the base watching the monitors. They really didn't need to keep watching though. When everyone eventually wakes up they were going to find the room. Which, was what Yasu was trying to figure out. He was matching the old blueprint to the new one. It looked like that whole hallway got cut off from the house. Which means they might need to break something, but they needed to get permission from the owners.</p><p>"<em>Yasu?"</em></p><p>Madoka. He blinked looking at the walkie-talkie that was resting on the table. Yasu glanced at Lin before going to grab it. "What's up?"</p><p>"<em>Are you okay?"</em></p><p>Ah. They decided to do something simple in seeing if he was alone, or with Lin. This way it was simple and he could say yes if the others were around. Naru might be suspicious, but no one else would know. "Lin is the only one with me. We're safe."</p><p>It was silent for a moment before Mai's voice came through. <em>"Yasu. It's not what we were thinking at all. There are bodies in that room, but I don't think any of them belong to Alivia."</em></p><p>Yasu blinked as he stared down at the walkie-talkie. That made no sense at all. He glanced at Lin who was completely focused on the conversation going on. He looked equally confused. "Does that mean she's buried on the property? Do you have any idea where?"</p><p>More silence before Mai's voice came through. It was very shaky, but it sounded like she was trying to calm herself down.</p><p>"<em>I'll be honest…I think the beetles ate her."</em></p><p>Both men completely froze at the information. Beetles? They knew there were bugs…but beetles? Lin was the first who managed to move and grabbed the walkie-talkie to talk. "Why do you think they ate her?"</p><p>"<em>If the beetles were starving they would eat the bones." </em>There were silence on her end for almost a minute before she continued. <em>"Plus…Charlie kept the bones as trophies. Given the facts of everything and his job…I think Charlie was a serial killer and he used his job to grab the bodies…"</em></p><p>They both didn't know what to say with this information. It was a lot to process and there were still things that made no sense. "Wait, how did he not get caught? There were obviously multiple ways to catch him if he was taking the bodies." Yasu had moved to grab a notebook and Lin had ended up asking the questions.</p><p>"<em>Yeah…Madoka and I were trying to figure that out. We made a late night trip to the hospital, because that's where they usually do the autopsies. Apparently, after Charlie died a lot of things came to light about his identity. He had a few people who had helped him out at the hospital. One was in security, apparently he was having an affair with her. It would explain the lack of evidence with the cameras. The other was the guy who was running autopsy. Apparently, at one point in his life he was studying beetles. I'm pretty sure those are the same as the ones Charlie was using. There was a police report, but it really didn't say much of what happened or if anyone got caught. They had their suspicions, but after Charlie died they looked around the house. They couldn't find anything."</em></p><p>"Wait. How do you know where the storage area is then?"</p><p>"<em>The place I circled is the area that has the underground passage. I'm pretty sure there is a door on the floor that leads down there. The first time when I tried to find it that was as far as I could go. It's got to be somewhere in there."</em></p><p>Lin sighed deeply shaking his head. "What the hell did we get ourselves into?"</p><p>Yasu had written everything down in the notebook he had brought. "Ask her how she thinks we can get Alivia to move on." Lin nodded and asked the question.</p><p>"<em>Honestly, I think she just wants to be found. You guys got lucky that you didn't take the case when her spirit's malice turned worst. She should still be at the stage where she can pass on easy enough."</em></p><p>"There is nothing to be found though." Yasu had stood up and toke the walkie-talkie back.</p><p>"<em>At this point I think her spirit is more of attached to that room and to the people her husband killed. Honestly, I think we just need to go to the police. Let them take over and she should pass on willingly after that."</em></p><p>The two men glanced at each other and nodded. "We'll talk to Naru about all of this once he wakes up. It shouldn't be that long now until he is awake."</p><p>"What do you need to talk to me about?"</p><p>The two completely froze for a moment as they looked towards the door. They should have realized Naru was going to wake up sooner rather than later. Mai was more than likely going to talk again, but it'll be in English. So, he shouldn't figure it out right away. Right?</p><p>"<em>You guys can let me know if you need me to call the police. I don't know if your phones work yet or not."</em></p><p>It was Madoka. They were safe and confused why it switched. They would ask her later what had happened to Mai.</p><p>"Sounds good." Lin replied to not draw any more attention from Naru.</p><p>Yasu walked over to hand Naru the notebook he was writing in. The other gave him a questioning look before looking down and reading. He was silent as he walked to his chair and sit down. "We'll wait until the others are awake and pack up. You guys can start now though…"</p><p>The other two got to work and paid no mind to the other. Naru glanced at the other two before flipping the notebook to the first page. He blinked as he looked down at the entry. It wasn't Yasu's handwriting he noted as he read. The whole thing was like a series of events that must have happened at one point. He frowned as he tapped his fingers against his desk.</p><p>There was only one person he could think of who have had that sort of psychic power. Which made no sense, since those powers have probably long since vanished. There was no way it was her. This was probably someone else.</p><p>
  <em>Day Four – 10am</em>
</p><p>They had everything packed up in the vans and were watching the huge mess that was the house. The police had come several hours before and from the looks of things had found the room that they had explained. The clients and the people who were living in the house were talking to the police. Basically, their work was done.</p><p>Yasu and Lin walked over to Madoka who was one the phone talking to something. "I think I'll go back with her, since we technically are heading in the same direction." Yasu glanced at the car eyeing it for a moment. "Where is she?"</p><p>"She's in the backseat sleeping. Her body was just completely exhausted and she's basically been asleep since after your conversation." Madoka was very worried when she was suddenly handed the walkie-talkie this morning and Mai basically flopped on the bed and was out in seconds. They were up for most of the night getting all the data, so she really didn't blame her.</p><p>"She probably overused her powers these last twenty four hours. I don't blame her." Lin was pretty impressed with the young woman. She basically did their whole case for them without even stepping foot in the house. He couldn't help but wonder about the cases that happened in Japan.</p><p>Naru was with the others as they had their own questions about what was happening. He was ignoring them for the moment, as his attention was on the other group. They were hiding something and he was very much curious about what was happening. Considering Yasu was here and Lin seemed to be interested in everything…his mind kept going to one person. Which made no sense at all. There was literally no way she could be here.</p><p>It had to be someone else.</p><p>
  <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
</p><p>Naru had been sitting in his desk since he got back from the office. He had taken the notebook that had all the information from the case. Just staring. It's been almost two hours and all he has been doing in staring.</p><p>The writing was all in English, and he was trying desperately to connect the writing with anyone. If it was someone from Japan there was already an issue. One, he couldn't read kanji so he never actually read anything that anyone wrote. Lin had always read everything to him.</p><p>It couldn't be her.</p><p>There was no way she would be going to Cambridge, with Yasu. Her powers probably left her after Gene's body left Japan. Plus, Parapsychology was different than just ghost hunting. There were a lot of different layers to the subject. Ghost hunting was only a very small part.</p><p>It would make sense for her to just move on and get a regular job. Move on…</p><p>He gripped the notebook as he stared down at the words. Everyone just seemed to melt together.</p><p>He didn't understand why it made him upset that she would just turn her back. Moving on from that path…</p><p>Moving on from him.</p><p>He grind his teeth at the very thought and threw the notebook in the trash. The feelings made no sense at all. He had no idea why that thought even crossed through his brain.</p><p>It wasn't her.</p><p>He left her there in Japan. Of course she would move to a new path. A new life without ghost hunting or him.</p><p>He brought his hand up and ran it through his hair just trying to make sense of his thoughts. He has thought about this when he came to England. He knew what he was doing.</p><p>Why did it all feel wrong though? It's always felt wrong. He just didn't know what to with everything he was feeling. It's been five years. He should be over everything that happened in Japan.</p><p>
  <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
</p><p>Mai yawned as she walked out of her room. She went to head for the fridge intending to get a bottle of water. She was thirsty and still very exhausted. Powers were draining.</p><p>"Oh! Look who is up!" Madoka came right up from behind her.</p><p>Mai was still in her half daze of sleep didn't really react. "Oh. Hi." She mumbled as she opened the bottle to take a sip.</p><p>The older woman just blinked and looked at the two men on the couch. "I was expecting a scream or something."</p><p>"I'm way too tired for that." She moved to where their living room was and flopped down on one of the chairs. "I don't remember coming back to the apartment though. When did that happen?"</p><p>Yasu was working on some of the homework from the class they had missed. Lucky for them it was Friday and they had basically all weekend to rest and do it all. Which, they probably only need half a day. "It was about a couple hours or so. We stopped at Cambridge so I could pick up our assignments. Martin really missed you in class. Said debates weren't the same."</p><p>Mai laughed as she drained the rest of the water in the bottle. She was thirsty, now that she thinks about it hungry too. "Did you happen to make any food?"</p><p>"We brought pizza. It's in the fridge." Lin had been working on something on his laptop. Actually, it was just a bunch of e-mails that he needed to go through.</p><p>"Oh my gosh. Pizza. I need." Mai managed to get up, which was probably the wrong move as she flopped back down. "Ugh." She groaned as she laid her head back. Her head was swirling at the sudden movement and it sucked.</p><p>However, it was Lin that was suddenly in front of her. "Are you okay?" He even went so far as putting a hand on her forehead. Probably to check for a fever or something from overusing her powers.</p><p>"She just needs food. I'll get her some of the pizza." Yasu left his seat and went to the kitchen. "Usually I force her to eat when I can during cases and her using her powers. With everything that happened I guess it was just forgotten."</p><p>"So this is normal?" He decided it should be fine if he went back to his seat for the moment, but he was going to keep his eye on Mai.</p><p>"It's like running or doing any sort of exercise. You use way too much energy you have to basically fill it back up?" Mai blinked a couple times just trying to stop from feeling so dizzy. Which was a very wrong move, because there were colors everywhere. So many colors it was overloading her senses and she just needed to close her eyes again. Of course she couldn't focus enough to calm down the auras around her. Which was just annoying.</p><p>"Are you sure you're okay?" Madoka had come up beside her this time. She, of course, was very worried about her. If she would have known she would have stuff food down Mai's throat herself.</p><p>"I'm fine. I just can't concentrate enough to calm down the auras. If I open my eyes it's just a blast of colors, but it's not that bad if my eyes are closed."</p><p>"She'll be fine. Just give her some room and some space to eat." Yasu came over with a plate with a pile of pizza slices and set it in her lap.</p><p>"Wait, I thought she could sense the auras better with her eyes closed?" Madoka was trying to think of all the times they had talked about Mai's powers.</p><p>"It's easier to focus on one person's aura that way. Having your eyes open is a whole new ball game. From what Mai has told me anyways." Yasu just wanted the other to eat, so it should be fine for him to answer the questions. "I'm trying to think of a good example, but I'm not really coming up with anything. I guess glasses? Mai basically has to put on invisible glasses just to see what is happening with the world. Take the glasses off and it's like everything is one big blur of colors."</p><p>"I think it makes sense enough, but wouldn't it be easy to just train the power more? If that's the case, then it sounds really easy for her to just be completely overwhelmed from it." Madoka was in deep thought trying to think over all the information.</p><p>"I get overwhelmed by it most of the time. It's not permit and that's what I really need. The monks didn't know what to do with something so intense, so I've been trying to train. Nothing we do works though. Just us going around in circles." Mai was already starting on her fourth slice of pizza. She was pretty hungry and this peperoni pizza was super good. She needed to figure out where they got it from.</p><p>Lin, who was being silent the whole time, finally talked after thinking through things. "Maybe I can help?</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey! Thanks for reading and the reviews! I appreciate them so much! This is kind of a short chapter, but I'm just trying to get things moving. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it mostly makes sense! You guys are the best!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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      <p>The weekend passed by in a huge blur. Mai spent a lot of time sleeping and doing her homework. It wasn't anything insane just writing a paper that was a little more than a thousand words on any haunting that they picked.</p>
      <p>Lin and she had talked about the training he wanted to do. They were going to start light and work their way up to what he wanted to do. Which meant she started going on runs again in the morning. She hasn't actually went on runs since she got to England, because she wanted to get used to the area. It's only been three weeks. Which was weird to even think about. It feels like it's been so much longer, but she suppose she has been enjoying herself.</p>
      <p>Even though she's also very stressed Naru is going to find out at any second. In reality it was pretty easy to figure out she was a student of his fathers. Naru lived with his parents! She was surprise he didn't find out from Martin shoving the papers in his face to read it.</p>
      <p>Unless he already actually knew and didn't want to acknowledge it. Acknowledge her. Which she could actually understand.</p>
      <p>She shot that down just as fast as it came into her head. She didn't want to think about that. That would probably be the worst case scenario. Mai could handle an angry Naru, but not one who wouldn't even acknowledge all the work she has done.</p>
      <p>She let out a sigh and got up from her seat on the couch. It was Sunday night and they had classes in the morning. Eventually, she needed to head to bed and sleep. For now she was going to read a little before bed. She took one of the many books on their wall bookcase.</p>
      <p>
        <em>How science is proving the paranormal.</em>
      </p>
      <p>Another one of Naru's books that she liked reading. She couldn't help but smile a little as she traced over his name. As much as she was avoiding him Mai really did miss him.</p>
      <p>She missed going on cases with him.</p>
      <p>She missed having their little arguments, which she was pretty sure she could hold her own now.</p>
      <p>She missed his eyes.</p>
      <p>She missed how she could basically lean on him for anything. Even if he was always riling her up.</p>
      <p>She just missed him.</p>
      <p>She let out a sigh as she went back to the couch to curl up and wasted no time in opening the book. It didn't last though until she was sleeping.</p>
      <p>
        <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
      </p>
      <p>It was Monday, finally, and Mai was seriously dragging. She dragged her feet to her seat and flopped down and even went so far in letting her head drop on the desk.</p>
      <p>"You look dead." Liam had turned around and faced her and even poked her forehead. "I don't want to deal with your spirit, so you need to live."</p>
      <p>"Liam, don't touch her." Trista slapped his hand away and focused on Mai. "You look like you just ran after a spirit and lost."</p>
      <p>Mai just groaned and moved her head to look at the two. "You guys are weird."</p>
      <p>"Ignore her." Yasu took his seat next to Mai and got his notebooks out. "This morning Lin and Mai went running and apparently went further out than intended. She wasn't prepared for the run back home."</p>
      <p>Liam blinked at the sudden information. "Wait. Why were they running?"</p>
      <p>Trista turned back in her seat to get ready for class. "Mai's training with Lin. Did you not pay attention when I told you this on Saturday?"</p>
      <p>"I think I would remember something like that."</p>
      <p>Mai zoned them out as she closed her eyes to relax. She was slowly getting pulled in though and eventually was out.</p>
      <p>
        <em>She opened her eyes as she saw the familiar setting. "What? Why am I here?" Literally, she was so confused why she got pulled here.</em>
      </p>
      <p>"<em>Sorry to pull you out of class."</em></p>
      <p>
        <em>Mai blinked as she turned to look at Gene. "Oh. Is this why I was tired? You were trying to pull me here? You could have found a better time."</em>
      </p>
      <p>
        <em>Gene smiled and walked up to her. "I was trying to talk to you since you came to England, but it's hard when you suddenly decided to switch countries." He couldn't help himself and pat her head. Gene got a glare from Mai, but it was worth it. "I saw Naru the other night."</em>
      </p>
      <p>"<em>Okay…?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at Gene.</em></p>
      <p>"<em>I was surprised that he didn't unintentionally use his powers. That's how frustrated and confused he was with himself."</em></p>
      <p>"<em>Naru wouldn't be stupid enough to unintentionally use his powers." Mai snapped back the moment Gene was done talking. "No matter what he was feeling at the moment."</em></p>
      <p>
        <em>Gene just smiled even more and pulled away from her. "I suppose not, but you need to tell him." He had heard his brother's thoughts that night and it had been worrying him since. Not to mention their little…problem?</em>
      </p>
      <p>
        <em>Mai sighed deeply and shook her head. "Is this why you pulled me here? Just to tell me, again, that I need to tell your brother I'm in England? It's not that easy to just go up to him and be like I'm here!"</em>
      </p>
      <p>"<em>He needs you."</em></p>
      <p>
        <em>Mai paused and looked back at him. "That's hilarious." She was glaring at the other completely serious now. "He doesn't need me. It's been over five years and not once has he checked up on us or anything. If he needed us or me he would have reached out. Maybe. This is Naru we're talking about, besides he seemed completely fine when the case was happening. Naru probably would have figured out the case eventually anyways. The spirit wasn't that hard to deal with, so he just needed the information. Give it a little more time and he would have been fine. Now, if you'll excuse me I have class to deal with." She closed her eyes to focus on her body.</em>
      </p>
      <p>"<em>Mai."</em></p>
      <p>"<em>No." She felt that familiar tug towards her body.</em></p>
      <p>"<em>Mai!" It was too late as she disappeared from sight. He let out a groan and ran his hands through his hair. "Why are both of them so frustrating?"</em></p>
      <p>
        <em>He bit his lip thinking for a moment. Yeah, Naru needed Mai in general…</em>
      </p>
      <p>
        <em>But it was more complicated than just that.</em>
      </p>
      <p>
        <em>There was suddenly a loud clang echoing through the plain before the sound of metal grinding against something. Gene still hasn't been able to locate what that something was.</em>
      </p>
      <p>
        <em>Mai was getting closer to the case though, and if something didn't change it could be bad. The dreams have never reacted this way before and it was very worrying. He had no idea what would happen.</em>
      </p>
      <p>Mai sat up suddenly in her seat. Martin was saying something, but she wasn't focused on it. She looked down and glared at the desk.</p>
      <p>Just.</p>
      <p>What the hell?</p>
      <p>Where does Gene get off by saying all of that? Naru didn't need them. He left them back in Japan. He didn't need her, obviously. Gene was an idiot.</p>
      <p>"Bad dream?" Yasu was leaning against the desk, but his eyes were trained on the older man going on about something.</p>
      <p>"<em>He was being an ass." </em>It was easier to switch over to Japanese, so no one would understand what she was talking about. <em>"Acting like Naru needed us or something. He was being weird and serious. It's not like him."</em></p>
      <p>"<em>Maybe something is going to happen?" </em>Yasu let out a small sigh before looking at her. <em>"Did you even hear what he wanted to tell you? I highly doubt he brought you there just to tell you that you should just tell Naru. You already know that."</em></p>
      <p>Mai looked away immediately hearing Yasu's words. She didn't hear him. She was upset, but the other made sense. <em>"I completely overreacted…didn't I?"</em></p>
      <p>"<em>Well, you wouldn't be Mai if you didn't overreact." </em>He couldn't help but laugh at all the times they got in trouble from her overreacting through the years.</p>
      <p>"<em>You're a pain. What are we even talking about?"</em></p>
      <p>"Just something about an old haunted mansion that he had a case on." Yasu replied in English. There was no point in continuing in Japanese.</p>
      <p>The rest of class went by as normal with their debates and old "war" stories from Martin. That was his way of explaining some of the cases.</p>
      <p>"Alright!" Martin motioned for all of his students to pay close attention to his next words. "Before we go for the day we need to talk about the fundraiser on Saturday. I know it's only Monday, but this is important. I know it's not required the first time, since you're all still getting used to class and assignments. I still recommend you go nevertheless you don't have to if you got things going on. It is formal attire though as it is a pretty big event. There will be people from the community coming and for a chance for you to expand your circle. We do call it a fundraiser, but it's more of a ball. We allow dancing and it's mostly finger food. Just enjoy yourselves and talk to people. Fair warning you'll probably get stuck for a couple hours talking about old cases from them. We do raise money, but we're not allowed to talk about it." He paused though as he saw Liam raised a hand. "Yes, Liam?"</p>
      <p>"This doesn't sound like a fundraiser."</p>
      <p>Martin just laughed. "My wife has been in charge of the event for a very long time, and she says everyone enjoys different aspects of it. I don't question any of it, because I don't need an upset wife on my back." This caused a few of his students to laugh a little. "We do raise a little bit more money though, so I'm not complaining about that either."</p>
      <p>That's how the rest of the last ten minutes were spent. Talking about the fundraisers dos and don'ts and who some of the people were. There was going to be more information about the said dance once Friday rolls around.</p>
      <p>Tuesday was just the same. Nothing insane had happened and Gene didn't pull Mai into the plain. She supposed she was going to need to talk to him at some point. Regular classes again Wednesday and Thursday. Mai was getting used to a schedule pretty fast. Mornings with Lin running around. Classes until the late afternoon. Homework when she gets home. Reading a book in the evening and then bedtime. That was everyday so far this week.</p>
      <p>So, it was shocking when Lin came early for their run. It threw her off a bit, but what threw her off more is when he sat her down and pulled out different colored ribbon.</p>
      <p>Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.</p>
      <p>Aura colors.</p>
      <p>She blinked as she looked down at the ribbons and then at Lin. "What exactly are we doing?"</p>
      <p>Lin got out one of his tape recorders out and set it in front of him. He made sure to turn it on first though. "We're going to be dealing with psychometry and psychic sensing."</p>
      <p>"Wait. I don't actually have psychometry."</p>
      <p>"So you say…"</p>
      <p>Mai blinked at the reply before looking down at the ribbons. "Do you happen to know something about my powers that I don't know? There is no way that would be possible."</p>
      <p>"I have an idea about something and I want to see if I'm right. Mostly, you're able to sense auras and I think you can connect to that with almost any object."</p>
      <p>"I'm completely lost."</p>
      <p>"I think it's better to just get going with the test. Maybe, you'll figure it out. So, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on the auras around you. Then you'll pick whatever ribbon you want and explain how you feel. Then at the end you'll give it a number."</p>
      <p>"That's it?"</p>
      <p>Lin nodded. "Take your time, but you need to concentrate for this to really work."</p>
      <p>Mai let out a small sigh and closed her eyes and picked up one of the ribbons.</p>
      <p>Orange.</p>
      <p>She stayed sitting there with her eyes closed trying to reach for something. Literally anything. A couple minutes had passed and nothing was happening. She just didn't understand what was supposed to happen.</p>
      <p>"Lin."</p>
      <p>"You're trying to force a connection. You just need to relax and let the auras consume you."</p>
      <p>Her eyes snapped open as she looked at the older man. "I can't do that! That's the opposite of what I was taught! It becomes way too much."</p>
      <p>"Mai, I understand what the monks had taught you. It's a lot to handle when the vision is probably very intense. We're trying to control it, so it's not being forced shut. Besides, forcing it away doesn't help you in the long run. So, try again. With a new color."</p>
      <p>She frowned, but put the ribbon down she was holding. She understood completely what Lin was telling her. There was no way she could do what he thought she could.</p>
      <p>She sighed deeply and closed her eyes again. This time she didn't take the ribbon right away. She calmed down to the point her whole body was completely relaxed and opened her senses enough to where she could feel the mix of different aura's around her. It was always a lot to handle when opening up this much, and she guessed if she opened her eyes her vision would only be a different mix of colors.</p>
      <p>She finally reached out to pick up one of the ribbons and held it. Which, to her surprise there was a bunch of different sensations rushing through her.</p>
      <p>She almost lost her concentration from how intense it was.</p>
      <p>Almost.</p>
      <p>"It's very restless…and it feels like it's reaching out for something unknown."</p>
      <p>"Number?"</p>
      <p>"Five."</p>
      <p>Lin reached over to take the ribbon and set it down in front of himself. "Next one."</p>
      <p>Mai nodded and reached for the next ribbon. The rush of the sensations was a lot of different this time. "It's very intense and overwhelming. Very…passionate too…Number Seven.</p>
      <p>"Next."</p>
      <p>"Very…" Mai frowned as she tried to find the right words. "It just screams growth to me. It's like a root of a tree growing and feeding. I guess that's not a feeling though…Number Four"</p>
      <p>"That's fine. Next."</p>
      <p>"Free. Very joyful and restless. Number six.</p>
      <p>"Next."</p>
      <p>"Seeking something…anything really. It's so sensitive too…Number two."</p>
      <p>"Next."</p>
      <p>"Caring, nurturing, and protective. Number three."</p>
      <p>That cause a crack in Lin's mostly composed face as they were going through this. That was the most matter of fact one so far. "Next."</p>
      <p>"Vibrant, charismatic, and powerful. Number one."</p>
      <p>Lin took the last ribbon and set it down. He knew where each was, but they were all mixed up from how Mai had went through them. "I don't want you to close down your aura sensing when you open up your eyes. Just stay calm and focused as you can.</p>
      <p>Mai nodded a little. It's not like she didn't trust Lin, but she really didn't want to deal with the mass of colors. She did what she was asked though and opened her eyes slowly. Of course there was a mass of colors surrounding her vision. It took literally everything for her to just not shut her eyes again and get sick.</p>
      <p>Lin was watching her closely to see the reaction. "The mass of colors you're probably experiencing is probably from objects."</p>
      <p>Mai's concentration broke and all the colors swirled around her for a moment. "Dang it." She shut her eyes tightly trying to calm herself down from her aura sensing. "What do you mean from objects?"</p>
      <p>"Certain objects, mostly things that are alive in a sense, can produce an aura. Trees, flowers, plants, crystals, and very bright colors in general. That's why I used the ribbons. It connects with the color of aura." Lin thought for a moment while looking down at the said ribbons. "It's almost time for your class, so we can end it for now. I think I know what to do with your training though. You mostly got told how to hold back your aura sensing and only using it when your eyes are close, but if we can make it part of your daily living I think it would work better. Sometimes, people use barriers, but considering our line of work…I think it would be better to train you in just being able to use it all the time. Of course you wouldn't constantly see the colors. It's kind of tricky to explain right now."</p>
      <p>"That's fine. I trust you as my teacher, Lin. If you think this is the best approach we should just do it." She gave him a smile as she jumped up on her feet. "I'm gonna get some food before heading to the college. Want anything?"</p>
      <p>Lin couldn't help but smile and got up from his spot to go help her. He also made sure to turn off the recorder.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone!<br/>Thanks for reading.<br/>I tried to explain things the best I could. I wasn't really sure how to go about it though.<br/>So I'm sorry if it's kind of...weird?<br/>I don't know.<br/>I hope you enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was early Saturday morning and Mai was sitting in front of Lin once again. Instead of the ribbons though there were different color flowers. She stared completely curious about what they were doing now. "So…?"</p>
<p>"You're going to have your eyes closed and you're going to pick the color I say." Lin was getting his recorder out once again.</p>
<p>"Um…I don't mean to point this out or anything, but I can't really distinguish the colors from the feelings. I know the basic knowledge with the colors, but personally I have no idea."</p>
<p>Lin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean you know the basic knowledge with the colors? From yesterday you can obviously feel them."</p>
<p>"Yes…well that was kind of the first time I felt that kind of pull from them. I know how to see the colors, obviously, so I looked up the information in books. I never tried to really read the auras though. Which…gets complicated honestly. Each aura is different and there are several different colors at play too. These are just the basic, but there are so many different shades of these. Plus…other colors mingling with others. It's all complicated."</p>
<p>"It's not complicated. That's why we're training you more with your aura sensing. It just sounds like you're opening up enough to see the basic colors and not anything else. I'm sure with time you'll understand everything a lot better." He smiled as he pointed to the flowers. "Now let's get started."</p>
<p>She got every single color wrong. She was pretty devastated. She stared down at the different colors just trying to figure out what had happened. She did so well yesterday, so what had happened.</p>
<p>"Mai, you need to relax. You basically said you couldn't pinpoint the colors and the feelings together. It's just something you need to work on. You can't get everything in one go."</p>
<p>She knew he was right, but it just felt like one huge lost. She sighed deeply and leaned against the couch. "I know…but I was hoping. Besides…they all felt very different than the ribbon."</p>
<p>"Yes…Unlike the ribbons these hold different feelings than the ribbons."</p>
<p>"Yeah…I got that much." She sighed and got up to get some water. "Sorry. I guess I just realized how much I really don't know about auras. My other powers I trained really hard, but this one always seemed out of reach."</p>
<p>"Speaking about your other powers…when we were in Japan you really didn't acknowledge them. What happened? I know you said they grew, but something else happened, right?" It was something Lin wanted to ask for a while. If they went to see the monks they could have done something to help her live a normal life. Or something.</p>
<p>Mai glanced at the other for a moment before smiling. She was about to speak before a loud knock came from the front door.</p>
<p>"Mai! We're going out!"</p>
<p>Trista. Mai blinked completely confused as she opened her door. "I'm in the middle of training. Besides, why are we going out?" She was even more shocked when she saw Madoka with Trista. "What is going on…?"</p>
<p>"Are you forgetting the fundraiser tonight? We're going out! Get our nails done, hair, and we're going to buy dresses!" Trista walked into the apartment and started dragging Mai with her.</p>
<p>"What? We already went shopping the other weekend! There is no need to do it again!"</p>
<p>"Just think of it as a girl's day out? It'll be a lot of fun." Madoka walked in to go see what they were actually working on. Different color flowers. She didn't get it at all. "Koujo, we're taking your student for the day. Sorry."</p>
<p>He raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend and shook his head. "Just make sure you don't go overboard. I should head to the office anyways." He moved to get things packed up and leave.</p>
<p>So, a couple hours later Mai found herself standing in a shop surrounded by different kinds of dresses. At least she managed to get them to let her eat. This was an interesting development and it was barely ten in the morning.</p>
<p>She highly doubt they will let her out of the mall without buying a new dress. Which, was a little bit of a hassle. She already had a couple at the apartment.</p>
<p>"What do you think of this one?" Trista came out of the dressing room with a dress that went down to her feet and was a light blue. It hugged her body and the color was really good, but it was just…overly sparkly and very frilly. By very frilly it's like layers upon layers across the whole dress. Where was the actual main dress part?</p>
<p>"Pass." Mai and Madoka said at the same time looking at the other.</p>
<p>Trista looked completely dejected though, so Mai had to add at least something. "The color is good though. You should stick with that at least."</p>
<p>That must have been the right thing to say because Trista was looking at her with a spark in her eyes. "We need to find something for you too!"</p>
<p>Mai rolled her eyes, but laughed. "I know. Don't worry. I'm gonna start looking." Trista seemed happy enough with this and went to go change. "Madoka are you getting a dress, too?"</p>
<p>"That's a good question. I was thinking dark purple? What do you think?" Madoka followed after Mai wanting to look for herself.</p>
<p>"You'll probably look good in whatever you get." Mai started at a random rack and slowly started to go through the dresses.</p>
<p>"Aw! You're so sweet to me. It's been a long time since I've done something like this. I'm usually stuck at the school or helping out the office."</p>
<p>"I'm not used to doing this. This seems kind of out my element…especially after I started doing cases more. This seemed like another world. I had the opportunity to dress up and go shopping with my friends from high school, they both ended up getting married. I was supposed to be part of the weddings though, but I always ended up doing cases at the last minute though and had to cancel." Mai glanced at one of the dresses before deciding to move on. "Ah. I didn't mean to make things weird."</p>
<p>"You didn't make anything weird." Madoka smiled as she pulled one of the dresses out to look at it. "I completely understand. It's hard to live a normal life with what we do, right? Days like these don't happen often and it's probably because you're still getting used to England. What do you think of this dress?" The dress she had picked out was dark purple and around the waist was a lighter shade of purple silk belt. It was floor length and had a layer of lace on the top half.</p>
<p>"You should try it on." Mai smiled as she looked at the dress. It was pretty and she was sure it would look good on her.</p>
<p>"Alright. I'll be right back!" Madoka ran off to try on the dress.</p>
<p>Mai smiled as she went back to looking for the moment. Trista came up beside her with her arms full of different dresses. All of them were very…over the top. "Um…Maybe you should try something simple?"</p>
<p>"What, but I'm into these." She looked down at all her dresses. She was pretty excited about trying them all on.</p>
<p>"We're not going to a ball though. It's just a fundraiser and you don't want to come off to strong…?" She trailed off seeing Trista's face turn sour. "Wait! That's not what I mean." She was struggling for a moment. Usually she is really good with people, but she really couldn't understand with stuff like this. She was okay with simple things when it came to shopping. Anything cheap would be just fine.</p>
<p>"Simple is better for the fundraiser. You draw to much attention with something like a ball dress. No one will know how to approach you." Madoka showed up in the dress she picked out and smiled at the two. "Plus, Liam probably might to awestruck from seeing you to function."</p>
<p>Mai raised an eyebrow looking at the older woman. Very curious how she realized about Trista's crush on the man.</p>
<p>Trista's face went red at the mention of Liam and nodded. "Well…I don't want Liam to look stupid in front of everyone. I'll be back!" She turned around and hurried off to put the dresses away and to look for something else.</p>
<p>"She really likes him." Mai blinked at the reaction before laughing. "I should get more information from her. I wonder if I can get them to dance with each other!" She turned to face the other and looked admired the dress. It was off the shoulder and it hugged her body in a good way. "Woah. That dress is very beautiful on you! Lin is gonna be speechless."</p>
<p>Madoka smiled widely and nodded. "Thank you. I really like it and it's super comfortable. I'm gonna get this one for tonight." She then turned around and planned on changing back into her clothes. "Don't worry. We'll find something for you here in a minute."</p>
<p>Mai just laughed and turned to keep looking around. Of course nothing really caught her eye though. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for though.</p>
<p>"Mai!" Trista called out while running towards her. Which got a glare from one of the workers. "Look at me!" She twirled around showing off the dress she was wearing.</p>
<p>The dress was regular blue, not the lighter one. Up above the waste was plain blue and a ribbon wrapped around her neck working to hold everything together. Below her waist though was a layer of lace that went a bit lower than the actual dress. It was knee length and it was dancing perfectly around her as she twirled.</p>
<p>"Woah. You look really beautiful too!" Mai grinned looking at her friend. "You're absolutely getting the dress for tonight. There is no way you can pass it up."</p>
<p>Trista just smiled more and hugged Mai. "Thank you! You were right! I'm gonna get changed and I'll help you find your dress too!" She pulled away and ran off.</p>
<p>Mai just laughed before turning to look around more. Madoka and Trista both had started to help and every dress they got Mai had shot down.</p>
<p>It was close to noon now and they weren't getting anywhere. "Maybe we should change stores, again?" They had moved around quite a bit since the first store. Hoping they would find something that Mai would like. Madoka was looking at the map in the mall they were at. There were a couple more stores on the higher level.</p>
<p>"The fundraiser starts around five, right? We should be able to look at the other stores and get our nails and hair done." Trista was also looking at the map.</p>
<p>Mai was exhausted. Honestly, she could go without looking at another dress right now. This was a lot more work than she thought it would be. She glanced around her surroundings. They mostly stuck with just stores that sold mostly dresses, because of the whole formal setting.</p>
<p>Her eyes caught one of the regular clothing stores though and she felt that familiar tug in the back of her mind. Her intuition. Which, was probably the most annoying thing of today. It kept telling her everything wasn't right and she has learned to listen to it. Even with everyday things too. Not just case work. She couldn't help but sigh and pointed to the store. "How about we take our chances and go there?"</p>
<p>Both girls turned and to look at where Mai pointed. Trista blinked tilting her head. "Looks like a regular store?"</p>
<p>"You can continue on if you want, but I'm gonna check it out." Mai was already on her way into the store. Nothing caught her eye though, but she was following that tug. The others were following her, so that's probably good.</p>
<p>It took longer than she thought it was going to, to find what was pulling her. She blinked several times as she held up the dress. "Um…"</p>
<p>"It's so cute. You should try it on. Where are the changing rooms?" Madoka was already dragging her towards where said area was and basically threw her in. "Try it on! You're not moving until you do."</p>
<p>Mai frowned though as she looked at the dress. She didn't want to look at the price. Not yet anyways.</p>
<p>She slowly went through the motions of getting the said dress on. It was strapless and the dress was red with a black lacing on the edge of the bottom of the dress. The bottom of the dress came down to just above her knees and was very frilly on the end. Looking at herself in the mirror though she really liked the dress. It was actually pretty comfortable though, too.</p>
<p>She didn't want to look at the price though.</p>
<p>"Mai? Are you good? We want to see!" Trista was obviously very excited to see the dress on her.</p>
<p>With a deep breath she finally opened the door and stepped out. "What do you think?"</p>
<p>Both girls blinked looking at her. Madoka was the first to break the silence and went to hug Mai. "You look so beautiful. Who would have thought we would hit the jackpot in a regular clothing store?"</p>
<p>Eventually Mai found out the price and did her best to try and refuse the dress. Which just caused Madoka to take it and pay for it, which made Mai panic even more. Things somehow worked out eventually.</p>
<p>After that they went to get lunch and went to get their nails done. They made sure to get colors that would match their dresses and then went to a salon to get their hair done. Trista went for a high updo, because she never tried this hair style. She usually just kept her hair down or in a ponytail. Never anything really fancy. She wanted to see if she liked it and she did. A lot. Madoka actually got hers in more of a ponytail, but there were so many curls and lose hair. It looked really good though, in Mai's opinion. She didn't do much with her hair though. She just asked for them to curl it and it turned out a lot better than she thought it would. Her hair was only to her shoulders, so she was nervous about how it looked.</p>
<p>
  <strong>-EEEEEE-</strong>
</p>
<p>"Woah. You girls are all fancy." Yasu was waiting with Liam by the one of the many conference rooms that Cambridge had. This room was on the third floor though. There were several conference rooms, because how many events the college did. Both boys were dressed in suits and one wore a dark blue tie (Liam) and the other white (Yasu). Madoka had went back home, since she was going to be going to the event with Lin.</p>
<p>Trista twirled around and laughed. "Don't we look amazing? Mai looks really beautiful though." She giggled and hugged the said girl.</p>
<p>"What are you talking about? You're also beautiful. You need to give yourself more credit." Mai smiled at the other girl while hugging her back.</p>
<p>Liam was standing there awkwardly not really sure what to say or do at the moment. Yasu elbowed him and smirked. "Well, we don't want to be late, right?" He held his arm out for Mai to take. "Shall we?"</p>
<p>Mai rolled her eyes playfully, but took his arm and followed him in the room. Liam took a moment to react and wordlessly offered his arm to Trista too.</p>
<p>The conference room was a sight. Everything was nicely decorated and was very simple. Also very sparkly. It kind of reminded Mai of something from a black and white party. Just the contrast from the dark to white was insane. The sides had tables and tables set up with food and the other side had tables and chairs. More than likely for people to relax.</p>
<p>"I already feel like I shouldn't be here…" Mai muttered to Yasu. "This is way too fancy for us."</p>
<p>Yasu just laughed and leaned over to whisper back to Mai. "Big boss might be disappointed hearing you say that."</p>
<p>She blinked and glared at the male. "What is that supposed to mean?"</p>
<p>"Are you guys first years?" A voice suddenly came from beside them. There stood a small group of people. "We're second years. Don't think we've had the pleasure to meet." A girl with bright red hair that was extremely curly smiled at them. She had bright green eyes and her faced was covered in freckles. "I'm Libby Welch. It's nice to meet you."</p>
<p>"I'm Ember Haynes!" Another girl shot forward smiling at them. She had curly auburn hair with dark blue eyes. Her smile basically took up all of her face.</p>
<p>Yasu smiled and held out his hand for Ember, since she was closest. "I'm Osamu Yasuhara, but everyone just calls me Yasu."</p>
<p>There were two guys waiting behind the two girls who just introduced themselves. Neither seemed to be moving or willing to talk right away. Mai couldn't help but keep her eyes trained on them for a moment while Yasu talked. Once she decided it was her turn she just smiled at the newcomers. "I'm Mai Taniyama. It's nice to meet you."</p>
<p>"I'm Trista Baxter and the idiot beside me is Liam Floyd." She came up from behind Mai and waved at them.</p>
<p>Liam turned to Trista and gave her a look. "Who are you calling an idiot?"</p>
<p>Libby turned to the two guys and smiled. It was fake though, because she was very annoyed at the two standing there. "Introduce yourselves."</p>
<p>The guy with dark blue hair and lighter blue eyes twitched and looked away. "Trayvon Woods." He managed to mumble out.</p>
<p>The guy with the white hair and black highlights just smiled as he elbowed the other. He had very dark brown eyes. They almost looked black. "I'm Hyrum Hawkins. It's so nice to meet you. Ignore this guy. He's just very shy with meeting new people."</p>
<p>Libby seemed to be happy enough with their introduction as she turned back to them. "Are you guys the only ones coming from the first years?"</p>
<p>"Yup. Everyone else has homework they wanted to do for the weekend." At least that was what everyone told them, but they probably had other things to do for a Saturday night.</p>
<p>They eventually moved away from the entryway and managed to talk for a little. It was mostly about classes and how they were liking them.</p>
<p>Eventually, Yasu got hungry and managed to drag Mai towards the tables of food. "There's so much fruit…" Mai was getting a small plate and getting some strawberries first. They were all cut up in nice little strips.</p>
<p>Yasu was grabbing a couple of cheeseball bites that were rolled in a variety of different food. "I probably should have kept you away from the fruit at least. I wouldn't be surprised if you're the one who eats it all."</p>
<p>"I couldn't eat it all if I tried." She managed to eat a couple cuts of strawberries before putting a little bit of watermelon on her plate. "Anyways, I think I recognize some of these people from books and shows."</p>
<p>"I was thinking the same thing, but I'm pretty sure we know him." He pointed towards an older looking gentleman. She couldn't see the face, but he was talking to a group of people. He had a huge smile and very long gray hair. Just another sign of old age.</p>
<p>Mai smiled though. "We have to surprise him." They were about to go bug the man, but someone yelling their names stopped them.</p>
<p>"Mai! Yasu!" Martin was basically sprinting towards them.</p>
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